simplification by cooperating decision procedures（合作决策过程简化）.pdfVIP

Simplification by Cooperating Decision Procedures GREG NELSON and DEREK C. OPPEN Stanford University A method for combining decision procedures for several theories into a single decision procedure for their combinationis described, and a simplifier based on this method is discussed. The simplifier finds a normal form for any expression formed from individual variables, the usual Boolean connectives, the equality predicate =, the conditional function if-then-else, the integers, the arithmetic functions and predicates +, -, and _,the Lisp functions and predicates car, cdr, cons, and atom, the functions store and select for storing into and selecting from arrays, and uninterpreted function symbols. If the expression is a theorem it is simplified to the constant true, so the simplifier can be used as a decision procedure for the quantifier-free theory containing these functions and predicates. The simplifier is currently used in the Stanford Pascal Verifier. Key Words and Phrases: program verification, program manipulation,theorem proving, decidability, simplification CR Categories: 4.12, 5.21, 5.24, 5.25, 5.7 1. INTRODUCTION P r o g r a m verifiers, symbolic evaluators, program t r a n s f o r m a t i o n systems, a n d similar high-level p r o g r a m m a n i p u l a t i o n systems will m a k e the p r o g r a m m i n g process more automatic, less error prone, a nd c h e a p e r - - i f they can ever be m a d e practical. T h e m a i n reason they have not yet progressed b e y o n d the e x p e r i m e n t a l stage is t h a t t h e y d e p e n d on m e c h a n i c a l t h e o r e m provers, a n d these have b e e n too slow a nd unreliable. T h e o r e m provers are required by p r o g r a m m a n i p u l a t i o n systems to