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Logic & Semantics |
In the past ten years a wide variety of proof tools, interactive or automated, has overwhelmed the union(intersection ?) of mathematicians, logicians, computer scientists and industry. All promote their advantages, some mention the shortcomings. This all makes it very difficult to choose the right theorem prover.
The choice can be guided by overviews of existing theorem provers [1] or by the experience of colleagues, but in any case, once you have decided, you have to go for it and take the consequences.
We will describe that process from our experience with a three-valued logic, the Partial Predicate Logic [2], and the theorem prover Isabelle [3].
[1] P.A. Lindsay - A survey of mechanical support for
formal reasoning Software Engineering Journal - jan 88
[2] A. Hoogewijs - Partial Predicate Logic in
Computer
Science Acta Informatica 24, pp381-393, Springer-Verlag, 1987.
[3] L. Paulson - Isabelle - A Generic
Theorem Prover
Lecture Notes in Computer Science - Springer Verlage, 1994