From Syntactic Theories to Interpreters: A Specification Language and Its Compilation
Abstract
Recent years have seen an increasing need of high-level specification languages and tools generating code from specifications. In this paper, we introduce a specification language, , which is tailored to the writing of syntactic theories of language semantics. More specifically, the language supports specifying primitive notions such as dynamic constraints, contexts, axioms, and inference rules. We also introduce a system which generates interpreters from specifications. A prototype system is implemented and has been tested on a number of examples, including a syntactic theory for Verilog.
Turn this paper into a full lesson
ArcXiv compiles a staged curriculum from this paper: 8-12 lessons across beginner → advanced, synthesised section guides, visuals, flashcards, a quiz, exercises, and on-demand deep dives per section. Grounded in the abstract, never invented.