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From operational semantics to abstract machines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2009

John Hannan  and
Dale Miller
John Hannan
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. ([email protected])
Dale Miller
Affiliation:
Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104–6389, USA. ([email protected])
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Abstract

We consider the problem of mechanically constructing abstract machines from operational semantics, producing intermediate-level specifications of evaluators guaranteed to be correct with respect to the operational semantics. We construct these machines by repeatedly applying correctness-preserving transformations to operational semantics until the resulting specifications have the form of abstract machines. Though not automatable in general, this approach to constructing machine implementations can be mechanized, providing machine-verified correctness proofs. As examples, we present the transformation of specifications for both call-by-name and call-by-value evaluation of the untyped λ-calculus into abstract machines that implement such evaluation strategies. We also present extensions to the call-by-value machine for a language containing constructs for recursion, conditionals, concrete data types, and built-in functions. In all cases, the correctness of the derived abstract machines follows from the (generally transparent) correctness of the initial operational semantic specification and the correctness of the transformations applied.

Type
Research Article
Information
Mathematical Structures in Computer Science , Volume 2 , Issue 4 , December 1992 , pp. 415 - 459
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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