Technical reports

Rewriting in Cambridge LCF

Larry Paulson

February 1983, 32 pages

DOI: 10.48456/tr-35

Abstract

Many automatic theorem-provers rely on rewriting. Using theorems as rewrite rules helps to simplify the subgoals that arise during a proof.

LCF is an interactive theorem-prover intended for reasoning about computation. Its implementation of rewriting is presented in detail. LCF provides a family of rewriting functions, and operators to combine them. A succession of functions is described, from pattern matching primitives to the rewriting tool that performs most inferences in LCF proofs.

The design is highly modular. Each function performs a basic, specific task, such as recognizing a certain form of tautology. Each operator implements one method of building a rewriting function from simpler ones. These pieces can be put together in numerous ways, yielding a variety of rewriting strategies.

The approach involves programming with higher-order functions. Rewriting functions are data values, produced by computation on other rewriting functions. The code is in daily use at Cambridge, demonstrating the practical use of functional programming.

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BibTeX record

@TechReport{UCAM-CL-TR-35,
  author =	 {Paulson, Larry},
  title = 	 {{Rewriting in Cambridge LCF}},
  year = 	 1983,
  month = 	 feb,
  url = 	 {https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/techreports/UCAM-CL-TR-35.dvi.gz},
  institution =  {University of Cambridge, Computer Laboratory},
  doi = 	 {10.48456/tr-35},
  number = 	 {UCAM-CL-TR-35}
}