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Modularity and implementation of mathematical operational semantics

Jaskelioff, Mauro Javier; Ghani, Neil; Hutton, Graham

Authors

Mauro Javier Jaskelioff

Neil Ghani



Abstract

Structural operational semantics is a popular technique for specifying the meaning of programs by means of inductive clauses. One seeks syntactic restrictions on those clauses so that the resulting operational semantics is well-behaved. This approach is simple and concrete but it has some drawbacks. Turi pioneered a more abstract categorical treatment based upon the idea that operational semantics is essentially a distribution of syntax over behaviour. In this article we take Turi's approach in two new directions. Firstly, we show how to write operational semantics as modular components and how to combine such components to specify complete languages. Secondly, we show how the categorical nature of Turi's operational semantics makes it ideal for implementation in a functional programming language such as Haskell.

Citation

Jaskelioff, M. J., Ghani, N., & Hutton, G. Modularity and implementation of mathematical operational semantics.

Conference Name Second Workshop on Mathematically Structured Functional Programming (MSFP 2008)
Deposit Date Feb 26, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Keywords Modularity, Category theory, Operational semantics, Haskell
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1015243
Publisher URL http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1571066111000545
Additional Information Published in: Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science, 229(5), (2011), 75-95, doi:10.1016/j.entcs.2011.02.017. ISSN: 1571-0661

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