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Relational Semantics for Higher-Order Programs

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Mathematics of Program Construction (MPC 2006)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 4014))

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Abstract

Most previous work on the semantics of higher-order programs with local state involves complex storage modeling with pointers and memory cells, complicated categorical constructions, or reasoning in the presence of context. In this paper we show how a relatively simple relational semantics can be used to avoid these complications. We provide a natural relational semantics for a programming language with higher-order functions. The semantics is purely compositional, with all contextual considerations completely encapsulated in the state. We show several equivalence proofs using this semantics based on examples of Meyer and Sieber (1988).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853-7501, USA

    Kamal Aboul-Hosn & Dexter Kozen

Authors
  1. Kamal Aboul-Hosn
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  2. Dexter Kozen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cybernetics at Tallinn University of Technology, Akadeemia tee 21, EE-12618, Tallinn, Estonia

    Tarmo Uustalu

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Aboul-Hosn, K., Kozen, D. (2006). Relational Semantics for Higher-Order Programs. In: Uustalu, T. (eds) Mathematics of Program Construction. MPC 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4014. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11783596_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11783596_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-35631-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-35632-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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