The formal system of Dijkstra and Scholten

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

The logic of E.W. Dijkstra and C.S. Scholten has been shown to be useful in program correctness proofs and has attracted a substantial following in research, teaching, and programming. However, there is confusion regarding this logic to the point in which, for some time, it was not considered a logic, as logicians use the word. The main objections arise from the fact that: (i) symbolic manipulations seem to be based on the meaning of the terms involved, and (ii) some notation and the proof style of the logic are different, to some extent, from those found in the traditional use of logic. This paper presents the Dijkstra-Scholten logic as a formal system, and explains its proof-theoretic foundations as a formal system, thus avoiding any confusion regarding term manipulation, notation, and proof style. The formal system is shown to be sound and complete, mainly, by using rewriting and narrowing based decision and semi-decision procedures for, respectively, propositional and first-order logic previously developed by C. Rocha and J. Meseguer.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationLogic, Rewriting and Concurrency - Essays Dedicated to Jose Meseguer on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday
EditorsPeter Csaba Ölveczky, Carolyn Talcott, Narciso Martí-Oliet
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages580-597
Number of pages18
ISBN (Print)9783319231648
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes
EventConference on Logic, Rewriting and Concurrency dedicated to Jose Meseguer on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday, 2015 - Champaign, United States
Duration: 23 Sep 201525 Sep 2015

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume9200
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

ConferenceConference on Logic, Rewriting and Concurrency dedicated to Jose Meseguer on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday, 2015
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityChampaign
Period23/09/1525/09/15

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The formal system of Dijkstra and Scholten'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this