Using Inhabitation in Bounded Combinatory Logic with Intersection Types for Composition Synthesis

Abstract

We describe ongoing work on a framework for automatic composition synthesis from a repository of software components. This work is based on combinatory logic with intersection types. The idea is that components are modeled as typed combinators, and an algorithm for inhabitation -is there a combinatory term e with type τ relative to an environment Γ? -can be used to synthesize compositions. Here, Γ represents the repository in the form of typed combinators, τ specifies the synthesis goal, and e is the synthesized program. We illustrate our approach by examples, including an application to synthesis from GUI-components.

Staged Composition Synthesis

“…We implemented the presented framework in the context of the (CL)S tool 2 [3,4], using F# and C#. The inhabitation algorithm is configured for the bound k = 0 [2], limiting type instantiations to atomic types or intersections of such.…”

“…Composition synthesis based on combinatory logic [6] with intersection types [7] was introduced and developed in [1][2][3][4][5]. The (CL)S-tool has been under development since 2011 and has been applied in several application scenarios, including generation of GUI and of control programs for LegoNXT robots [3].…”

“…The (CL)S-tool has been under development since 2011 and has been applied in several application scenarios, including generation of GUI and of control programs for LegoNXT robots [3].…”

“…Composition synthesis [1][2][3][4][5] is based on the idea of using inhabitation in combinatory logic [6] with intersection types [7] as a foundation for computing compositions from a repository of components. We can regard a combinatory type judgement Γ e : τ as modeling the fact that combinatory expression e can be obtained by composition from a repository Γ of components which are exposed as combinator symbols and whose interfaces are exposed as combinator types enriched with intersection types that specify semantic properties of components.…”

“…Semantic types are not necessarily checked against component implementations (this is regarded as an orthogonal issue). In the combinatory approach of [1][2][3][4][5] semantic types are represented by intersection types [7]. In addition to being inherently component-oriented, it is a possible advantage of the typebased approach of composition synthesis that types can be naturally associated with code at the API-level.…”