A kernel specification formalism with higher-order parameterisation [chapter]

Donald Sannella, Andrzej Tarlecki
1991 Lecture Notes in Computer Science  
A speci cation formalism with parameterisation of an arbitrary order is presented. It is given a denotational-style semantics, accompanied by an inference system for proving that an object satis es a speci cation. The inference system incorporates, but is not limited to, a clearly identi ed type-checking component. Special e ort is made to carefully distinguish between parameterised speci cations, which denote functions yielding classes of objects, and speci cations of parameterised objects,
more » ... ch denote classes of functions yielding objects. To deal with both of these in a uniform framework, it was convenient to view speci cations, which specify objects, as objects themselves, and to introduce a notion of a speci cation of speci cations. The formalism includes the basic speci cation-building operations of the ASL speci cation language. This choice, however, is orthogonal to the new ideas presented. The formalism is also institution-independent, although this issue is not explicitly discussed at any length here.
doi:10.1007/3-540-54496-8_15 fatcat:jbwqyr3doraw7bjksbimxt3u3q