Logic Frameworks for Logic Programs
David Basin · 1994
. We show how logical frameworks can provide a basis for logic program synthesis. With them, we may use first-order logic as a foundation to formalize and derive rules that constitute program development calculi. Derived rules may be in turn applied to synthesize logic programs using higher-order resolution during proof that programs meet their specifications. We illustrate this using Paulson's Isabelle system to derive and use a simple synthesis calculus based on equivalence preserving transformations. 1 Introduction Background In 1969 Dana Scott developed his Logic for Computable Functions and with it a model of functional program computation. Motivated by this model, Robin Milner developed the theorem prover LCF whose logic PP used Scott's theory to reason about program correctness. The LCF project [13] established a paradigm of formalizing a programming logic on a machine and using it to formalize different theories of functional programs (e.g., strict and lazy evaluation) and the...