Computing in Horn Clause Theories

At least four research fields detennine the theoretical background of specification and deduction in computer science: recursion theory, automated theorem proving, abstract data types and tenn rewriting systems. As these areas approach each other more and more, the strong distinctions between functional and relational views, deductive and denotational approaches as well as between specification and programming are relieved in favour of their integration. The book will not expose the lines of this development; conversely, it starts out from the nucleus of Hom clause logic and brings forth both known and unknown results, most of which affect more than one of the fields mentioned above. Chapter 1 touches on historical issues of specification and prototyping and delimits the topics handled in this book from others which are at the core of related work. Chapter 2 provides the fundamental notions and notations needed for the presentation and interpretation of many-sorted Horn clause theories with equality. Chapter 3 supplies a number of sample Hom clause specifications ranging from arithmetic through string manipulation to higher data structures and interpreters of programming languages. Some of these examples serve as a reference to illustrate definitions and results, others may throw a light on the strong link between specifications and programs, which are executed by applying deduction rules. Thus we have included examples of how to use program trans/ormation methods in specification design.