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--- sav07_lecture_3_skeleton [2007/03/18 19:52]
vkuncak created
+++ sav07_lecture_3_skeleton [2007/03/20 18:06]
vkuncak
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+====== Lecture 3 (Skeleton) ======
-==== Papers ====
+===== Converting programs (with simple values) to formulas =====
-* Compact verification conditions using weakest preconditions: http://research.microsoft.com/~leino/papers/krml157.pdf
-* Presburger Arithmetic (PA) bounds: {{papadimitriou81complexityintegerprogramming.pdf}}
-* Specializing PA bounds: http://www.lmcs-online.org/ojs/viewarticle.php?id=43&layout=abstract
+==== Context ====
+Recall that we can
+  * represent programs using guarded command language, e.g. desugaring of 'if' into non-deterministic choice and assume
+  * give meaning to guarded command language statements as relations
+  * we can represent relations using set comprehensions; if our program c has two state components, we can represent its meaning R( c ) as
+<latex>
+\{((x_0,y_0),(x,y)) \mid F \}
+</latex>
+where F is some formula that has x,y,x_0,y_0 as free variables.
+  * this is what I mean by ''simple values'': later we will talk about modeling pointers and arrays, but we will still use this as a starting point.
+Our goal is to find rules for computing R( c ) that are
+  * correct
+  * efficient
+  * create formulas that we can effectively prove later
+What exactly do we prove about the formula R( c ) ?
+We prove that this formula is **valid**
+  R( c ) -> error=false
+==== Formulas for basic statements ====
+In our simple language, basic statements are assignment, havoc, assume, assert.
+  R(x=t) = (x=t & y=y_0 & error=error_0)
+**Note**: all our statements will have the property that if error_0 = true, then error=true.  That is, you can never recover from an error state.  This is convenient: if we prove no errors at the end, then there were never errors in between.
+**Note**: the condition y=y_0 & error=error_0 is called <b>frame condition</b>.  There are as many conjuncts as there are components of the state.  This can be annoying to write, so let us use shorthand frame(x) for it.  The shorthand frame(x) denotes a conjunction of v=v_0 for all v that are distinct from x (in this case y and error).  We can have zero or more variables as arguments of frame, so frame() means that nothing changes.
+  R(havoc x) = frame(x)
+  R(assume F) = F[x:=x_0, y:=y_0, error:=error_0]
+  R(assert F) = (F -> frame)
+**Note**:
+  x=t  is same as  havoc(x);assume(x=t)
+  assert false = crash  (stops with error)
+  assume true  = skip   (does nothing)
+==== Composing formulas using relation composition ====
+This is perhaps the most direct way of transforming programs to formulas.  It creates formulas that are linear in the size of the program.
+Non-deterministic choice is union of relations, that is, disjunction of formulas:
+  CR(c1 [] c2) = CR(c1) | CR(c2)
+In sequential composition we follow the rule for composition of relations.  We want to get again formula with free variables x_0,y_0,x,y.  So we need to do renaming.  Let x_1,y_1,error_1 be fresh variables.
+  CR(c1 ; c2) = exists x_1,y_1,error_1.  CR(c1)[x:=x_1,y:=y_1,error:=error_1] & CR(c2)[x:=x_1,y:=y_1,error:=error_1]
+The base case is
+  CR(c)=R(c)
+when c is a basic command.
+==== Avoiding accumulation of equalities ====
+This approach generates many variables and many frame conditions.
+Ignoring error for the moment, we have, for example:
+  R(x=3) = (x=3 & y=y_0)
+  R(y=x+2) = (y=x_0 + 2 & x=x_0)
+  CR(x=3;y=x+2) = x_1=3 & y_1 = y_0 & y = x_1 + 2 & x = x_1
+But if a variable is equal to another, it can be substituted using the substitution rules
+  (exists x_1. x_1=t & F(x_1))     <->    F(t)
+  (forall x_1. x_1=t -> F(x_1)     <->    F(t)
+We can apply these rules to reduce the size of formulas.
+==== Abstraction ====
+  * for proving properties
+  * for finding errors
+==== Symbolic execution ====
+Symbolic execution converts programs into formulas by going forward.  It is therefore somewhat analogous to the way an [[interpreter]] for the language would work.  It is based on the notion of strongest postcondition.
+==== Weakest preconditions ====
+While symbolic execution computes formula by going forward along the program syntax tree, weakest precondition computes formula by going backward.
+===== Proving quantifier-free linear arithmetic formulas =====
+===== Papers =====
+  * Verification condition generation in Spec#: http://research.microsoft.com/~leino/papers/krml157.pdf
+  * Loop invariant inference for set algebra formulas: {{hob-tcs.pdf}}
+  * Induction-iteration method for machine code checking: http://www.cs.wisc.edu/wpis/papers/pldi00.ps
+  * Presburger Arithmetic (PA) bounds: {{papadimitriou81complexityintegerprogramming.pdf}}
+  * Specializing PA bounds: http://www.lmcs-online.org/ojs/viewarticle.php?id=43&layout=abstract