Neelakantan R. Krishnaswami

Verifying Higher-Order Imperative Programs with Higher-Order Separation Logic Degree Type: Ph.D. in Computer Science
Advisor(s): Stephen Brookes, John Reynolds
Graduated: August 2012

Abstract:

In this thesis I show is that it is possible to give modular correctness proofs of interesting higher-order imperative programs using higher-order separation logic.

To do this, I develop a model higher-order imperative programming language, and develop a program logic for it. I demonstrate the power of my program logic by verifying a series of examples. This includes both realistic patterns of higher-order imperative programming such as the subject-observer pattern, as well as examples demonstrating the use of higher-order logic to reason modularly about highly aliased data structures such as the union-find disjoint set algorithm.

Thesis Committee:
Jonathan Aldrich (Co-chair)
John C. Reynolds (Co-chair)
Robert Harper
Lars Birkedal (IT University of Copenhagen)

Jeannette Wing, Head, Computer Science Department
Randy Bryant, Dean, School of Computer Science

Keywords:
Separation Logic, Design Patterns, Verification, Specification, Type Theory, Denotational Semantics, Program Logic, Program Correctness