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Towards a process semantics in the logic programming style

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Book cover STACS 90 (STACS 1990)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 415))

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Abstract

We propose a new, more informative semantics for HCL: the meaning of a program is a set of observations over successful computations (refutations), which is parametric with respect to the observation function. The semantics is given in a logic programming style, i.e. with three different although equivalent characterizations (operational, model-theoretic and fixpoint). This semantics should fill the gap between the classic HCL semantics (not informative enough to be generalized to concurrent logic languages), and the process semantics used for imperative languages. Consistency of our approach with the classic semantics of HCL is checked by considering the minimal observation function, which observes just the initial and final state of a computation.

Actually, the semantic definitions are given at the very basic level of transition systems, and it is shown how to represent a logic program with such a system. Therefore, the same constructions can be applied to every formalism representable as a transition system.

Research performed while visiting ESLAI (Escuela Superior Latino-Americana de Informática, R. Argentina) with the support of the Italian Foreign Ministry, Programma di Cooperazione e Sviluppo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Informatica, Università di Pisa, Corso Italia 40, I - 56125, Pisa, Italy

    Andrea Corradini & Ugo Montanari

Authors
  1. Andrea Corradini
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  2. Ugo Montanari
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Christian Choffrut Thomas Lengauer

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© 1990 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Corradini, A., Montanari, U. (1990). Towards a process semantics in the logic programming style. In: Choffrut, C., Lengauer, T. (eds) STACS 90. STACS 1990. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 415. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-52282-4_35

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-52282-4_35

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-52282-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-46945-2

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