Denotational aspects of untyped normalization by evaluation
RAIRO - Theoretical Informatics and Applications - Informatique Théorique et Applications, Tome 39 (2005) no. 3, pp. 423-453.

We show that the standard normalization-by-evaluation construction for the simply-typed λ βη -calculus has a natural counterpart for the untyped λ β -calculus, with the central type-indexed logical relation replaced by a “recursively defined” invariant relation, in the style of Pitts. In fact, the construction can be seen as generalizing a computational-adequacy argument for an untyped, call-by-name language to normalization instead of evaluation.In the untyped setting, not all terms have normal forms, so the normalization function is necessarily partial. We establish its correctness in the senses of soundness (the output term, if any, is in normal form and β-equivalent to the input term); identification (β-equivalent terms are mapped to the same result); and completeness (the function is defined for all terms that do have normal forms). We also show how the semantic construction enables a simple yet formal correctness proof for the normalization algorithm, expressed as a functional program in an ML-like, call-by-value language. Finally, we generalize the construction to produce an infinitary variant of normal forms, namely Böhm trees. We show that the three-part characterization of correctness, as well as the proofs, extend naturally to this generalization.

DOI : 10.1051/ita:2005026
Classification : 03B40, 06B35, 68N18, 68Q55
Mots clés : normalization by evaluation, untyped $\lambda $-calculus, denotational semantics, functional programming, Böhm trees, computational adequacy
@article{ITA_2005__39_3_423_0,
     author = {Filinski, Andrzej and Rohde, Henning Korsholm},
     title = {Denotational aspects of untyped normalization by evaluation},
     journal = {RAIRO - Theoretical Informatics and Applications - Informatique Th\'eorique et Applications},
     pages = {423--453},
     publisher = {EDP-Sciences},
     volume = {39},
     number = {3},
     year = {2005},
     doi = {10.1051/ita:2005026},
     mrnumber = {2157044},
     zbl = {1096.03010},
     language = {en},
     url = {http://www.numdam.org/articles/10.1051/ita:2005026/}
}
TY  - JOUR
AU  - Filinski, Andrzej
AU  - Rohde, Henning Korsholm
TI  - Denotational aspects of untyped normalization by evaluation
JO  - RAIRO - Theoretical Informatics and Applications - Informatique Théorique et Applications
PY  - 2005
SP  - 423
EP  - 453
VL  - 39
IS  - 3
PB  - EDP-Sciences
UR  - http://www.numdam.org/articles/10.1051/ita:2005026/
DO  - 10.1051/ita:2005026
LA  - en
ID  - ITA_2005__39_3_423_0
ER  - 
%0 Journal Article
%A Filinski, Andrzej
%A Rohde, Henning Korsholm
%T Denotational aspects of untyped normalization by evaluation
%J RAIRO - Theoretical Informatics and Applications - Informatique Théorique et Applications
%D 2005
%P 423-453
%V 39
%N 3
%I EDP-Sciences
%U http://www.numdam.org/articles/10.1051/ita:2005026/
%R 10.1051/ita:2005026
%G en
%F ITA_2005__39_3_423_0
Filinski, Andrzej; Rohde, Henning Korsholm. Denotational aspects of untyped normalization by evaluation. RAIRO - Theoretical Informatics and Applications - Informatique Théorique et Applications, Tome 39 (2005) no. 3, pp. 423-453. doi : 10.1051/ita:2005026. http://www.numdam.org/articles/10.1051/ita:2005026/

[1] K. Aehlig and F. Joachimski, Operational aspects of untyped normalization by evaluation. Math. Structures Comput. Sci. 14 (2004) 587-611. | Zbl

[2] H.P. Barendregt, The Lambda Calculus: Its Syntax and Semantics, volume 103 of Studies in Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics. North-Holland, revised edition (1984). | MR | Zbl

[3] U. Berger and H. Schwichtenberg, An inverse of the evaluation functional for typed λ-calculus, in Proc. of the Sixth Annual IEEE Symposium on Logic in Computer Science, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (July 1991) 203-211.

[4] T. Coquand and P. Dybjer, Intuitionistic model constructions and normalization proofs. Math. Structures Comput. Sci. 7 (1997) 75-94. | Zbl

[5] A. Filinski, A semantic account of type-directed partial evaluation, in International Conference on Principles and Practice of Declarative Programming, edited by G. Nadathur, Springer-Verlag, Paris, France. Lect. Notes Comput. Sci. 1702 (1999) 378-395 | Zbl

[6] A. Filinski and H.K. Rohde, A denotational account of untyped normalization by evaluation, in 7th International Conference on Foundations of Software Science and Computation Structures (FOSSACS 2004), edited by I. Walukiewicz, Springer-Verlag, Barcelona, Spain Lect. Notes Comput. Sci. 2987 (2004) 167-181. | Zbl

[7] A. Filinski and H.K. Rohde, Denotational aspects of untyped normalization by evaluation (extended version, with detailed proofs). BRICS Report RS-05-4, University of Aarhus, Denmark (February 2005). Available from http://www.brics.dk/RS/05/4/.

[8] B. Grégoire and X. Leroy, A compiled implementation of strong reduction, in Proc. of the Seventh ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Functional Programming, edited by S. Peyton Jones, ACM Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, SIGPLAN Notices 37 (2002) 235-246.

[9] R. Milner, M. Tofte, R. Harper and D. Macqueen, The Definition of Standard ML. The MIT Press, revised edition (1997).

[10] J.C. Mitchell, Foundations for Programming Languages. The MIT Press (1996).

[11] A.M. Pitts, Computational adequacy via “mixed” inductive definitions, in Mathematical Foundations of Programming Semantics. Springer-Verlag. Lect. Notes Comput. Sci. 802 (1993) 72-82.

[12] A.M. Pitts, Relational properties of domains. Inform. Comput. 127 (1996) 66-90. | Zbl

[13] G.D. Plotkin, LCF considered as a programming language. Theor. Comput. Sci. 5 (1977) 223-255. | Zbl

[14] M.R. Shinwell, A.M. Pitts and M.J. Gabbay, FreshML: Programming with binders made simple, in Eighth ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Functional Programming, ACM Press, Uppsala, Sweden (2003) 263-274.

Cité par Sources :