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Extended natural semantics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2008

John Hannan
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 1, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
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Abstract

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We extend the definition of natural semantics to include simply typed λ-terms, instead of first-order terms, for representing programs, and to include inference rules for the introduction and discharge of hypotheses and eigenvariables. This extension, which we call extended natural semantics, affords a higher-level notion of abstract syntax for representing programs and suitable mechanisms for manipulating this syntax. We present several examples of semantic specifications for a simple functional programming language and demonstrate how we achieve simple and elegant manipulations of bound variables in functional programs. All the examples have been implemented and tested in λProlog, a higher-order logic programming language that supports all of the features of extended natural semantics.

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Articles
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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