The Isabelle/Isar Implementation
Makarius Wenzel, Stefan Berghofer, Florian Haftmann, Lawrence Charles Paulson, Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Brian W. Kernighan, Alan C. Kay · 2016
We describe the key concepts underlying the Isabelle/Isar implementation, including ML references for the most important functions. The aim is to give some insight into the overall system architecture, and provide clues on implementing applications within this framework. Isabelle was not designed; it evolved. Not everyone likes this idea. Specification experts rightly abhor trial-and-error programming. They suggest that no one should write a program without first writing a complete formal specification. But university departments are not software houses. Programs like Isabelle are not products: when they have served their purpose, they are discarded. Lawrence C. Paulson, “Isabelle: The Next 700 Theorem Provers” As I did 20 years ago, I still fervently believe that the only way to make software secure, reliable, and fast is to make it small. Fight features.