VDM Semantics of Programming Languages: Combinators and Monads [chapter]

Peter D. Mosses
Formal Methods and Hybrid Real-Time Systems  
VDM was developed in the early 1970s as a variant of denotational semantics. VDM descriptions of programming languages differ from the original Scott-Strachey style by making extensive use of combinators which have a fixed operational interpretation. After recalling the main features of denotational semantics and the Scott-Strachey style, we examine the combinators of the VDM specification language, and relate them to monads, which were introduced more than 15 years later. We also suggest that
more » ... se of further monadic combinators in VDM could be beneficial. Finally, we provide an overview of published VDM semantic descriptions of major programming languages.
doi:10.1007/978-3-540-75221-9_23 dblp:conf/birthday/Mosses07 fatcat:h2m4ew4b55do3o3z6gzuha5oku