Separation logic: A logic for shared mutable data structures

JC Reynolds�- Proceedings 17th Annual IEEE Symposium on�…, 2002 - ieeexplore.ieee.org
JC Reynolds
Proceedings 17th Annual IEEE Symposium on Logic in Computer Science, 2002ieeexplore.ieee.org
In joint work with Peter O'Hearn and others, based on early ideas of Burstall, we have
developed an extension of Hoare logic that permits reasoning about low-level imperative
programs that use shared mutable data structure. The simple imperative programming
language is extended with commands (not expressions) for accessing and modifying shared
structures, and for explicit allocation and deallocation of storage. Assertions are extended by
introducing a" separating conjunction" that asserts that its subformulas hold for disjoint parts�…
In joint work with Peter O'Hearn and others, based on early ideas of Burstall, we have developed an extension of Hoare logic that permits reasoning about low-level imperative programs that use shared mutable data structure. The simple imperative programming language is extended with commands (not expressions) for accessing and modifying shared structures, and for explicit allocation and deallocation of storage. Assertions are extended by introducing a "separating conjunction" that asserts that its subformulas hold for disjoint parts of the heap, and a closely related "separating implication". Coupled with the inductive definition of predicates on abstract data structures, this extension permits the concise and flexible description of structures with controlled sharing. In this paper, we survey the current development of this program logic, including extensions that permit unrestricted address arithmetic, dynamically allocated arrays, and recursive procedures. We also discuss promising future directions.
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