A framework for reasoning about Erlang code
Lars‐Åke Fredlund · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) · 2001
We present a framework for formal reasoning about the behaviour of software written in Erlang, a functional programming language with prominent support for process based concurrency, message passing communication and distribution. The framework contains the following key ingredients: a specification language based on the mu-calculus and first-order predicate logic, a hierarchical small-step structural operational semantics of Erlang, a judgement format allowing parameterised behavioural assertions, and a Gentzen style proof system for proving validity of such assertions. The proof system supports property decomposition through a cut rule and handles program recursion through well-founded induction. An implementation is available in the form of a proof assistant tool for checking the correctness of proof steps. The tool offers support for automatic proof discovery through higher--level rules tailored to Erlang. As illustrated in several case