Postscript


(* $Date: 2011-04-10 12:14:37 -0400 (Sun, 10 Apr 2011) $ *)

Looking back...

  • Functional programming - "declarative" programming (recursion over persistent data structures)
    • higher-order functions
    • polymorphism
  • Coq, an industrial-strength proof assistant
  • Logic, the mathematical basis for software engineering:
                   logic                        calculus
            --------------------   =   ----------------------------
            software engineering       mechanical/civil engineering
    
    • inductively defined sets and relations
    • inductive proofs
    • proof objects
  • Foundations of programming languages
    • notations and definitional techniques for precisely specifying
      • abstract syntax
      • operational semantics
        • big-step style
        • small-step style
      • type systems
    • Hoare logic
    • program equivalence
    • fundamental metatheory of type systems
      • progress and preservation
      • type soundness for languages with dynamically allocated heap storage
    • theory of subtyping

Further Reading

Some good next steps...
  • Types and Programming Languages, by Benjamin C. Pierce. MIT Press, 2002.
  • Interactive Theorem Proving and Program Development: Coq'Art: The Calculus of Inductive Constructions, by Yves Bertot and Pierre Castéran. Springer-Verlag, 2004.
  • Certified Programming with Dependent Types, by Adam Chlipala. A draft textbook on practical proof engineering with Coq, available from his web page.
  • Practical Foundations for Programming Languages, by Robert Harper. Manuscript, available from his web page.
  • The Formal Semantics of Programming Languages: An Introduction, by Glynn Winskel. MIT Press, 1993.
  • Foundations for Programming Languages, by John C. Mitchell. MIT Press, 1996.