On correct program schemas

Abstract

We present our work on the representation and correctness of program schemas, in the context of logic program synthesis. Whereas most researchers represent schemas purely syntactically as higher-order expressions, we shall express a schema as an open rst-order theory that axiomatises a problem domain, called a specication framework, containing an open program that represents the template of the schema. We will show that using our approach we can dene a meaningful notion of correctness for schemas, viz. that correct program schemas can be expressed as parametric specication frameworks containing templates that are steadfast, i.e. programs that are always correct provided their open relations are computed correctly. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1998.