A Provably Correct Compiler Generator

Abstract

We have designed, implemented, and proved the correctness of a compiler generator that accepts action semantic descriptions of imperative programming languages. The generated compilers emit absolute code for an abstract RISC machine language that currently is assembled into code for the SPARC and the HP Precision Architecture. Our machine language needs no run-time type-checking and is thus more realistic than those considered in previous compiler proofs. We use solely algebraic specifications; proofs are given in the initial model.

Oasis: An Optimizing Action-based Compiler Generator

“…Comparing these figures with what Palsberg obtained with the CANTOR system [20,19] shows that the compilers we generate are two orders of magnitude faster than his, and that the code size is also two orders of magnitude smaller than his. It should be noted that Palsberg's tests were also run on a Sun SparcStation ELC.…”

“…This is a major performance enhancement in relation to earlier approaches to compiler generation based on Action Semantics [20,19,3], as well as compared to other semantics based compiler generators.…”

“…The syntax and semantics for HypoPL can be found in [12,19,18]. The functional (eager) language FunImp contains higher order recursive functions as well as mutable data.…”

“…If this is the case, the "or" can't trap the failure, a run-time error should be indicated and the program stopped (in the absence of commitment, an alternative action may be performed). In the CANTOR system [20,19], a significant amount of run-time is used to check for such committed failures. Our analysis is able to statically determine the possibility of committed failures in most cases, thus much fewer run-time checks need to be inserted.…”

Action Semantics in Retrospect

“…Cantor [25] was a compiler generator based on a broadly similar subset of action notation. Given the ASD of a statically-scoped and statically-typed language L, Cantor could generate a compiler composed of:…”