In this paper, we present a novel framework for studying the syntactic completeness of computational effects and we apply it to the exception effect. When applied to the states effect, our framework can be seen as a generalization of Pretnars work on this subject. We first introduce a relative notion of Hilbert-Post completeness, well-suited to the composition of effects. Then we prove that the exception effect is relatively Hilbert-Post complete, as well as the core language which may be used for implementing it; these proofs have been formalized and checked with the proof assistant Coq.
Computational effects may often be interpreted in the Kleisli category of a monad or in the coKleisli category of a comonad. The duality between monads and comonads corresponds, in general, to a symmetry between construction and observation, for instance between raising an exception and looking up a state. Thanks to the properties of adjunction one may go one step further: the coKleisli-on-Kleisli category of a monad provides a kind of observation with respect to a given construction, while dually the Kleisli-on-coKleisli category of a comonad provides a kind of construction with respect to a given observation. In the previous examples this gives rise to catching an exception and updating a state. However, the interpretation of computational effects is usually based on a category which is not self-dual, like the category of sets. This leads to a breaking of the monad-comonad duality. For instance, in a distributive category the state effect has much better properties than the exception effect. This remark provides a novel point of view on the usual mechanism for handling exceptions. The aim of this paper is to build an equational semantics for handling exceptions based on the coKleisli-on-Kleisli category of the monad of exceptions. We focus on n-ary functions and conditionals. We propose a programmers language for exceptions and we prove that it has the required behaviour with respect to n-ary functions and conditionals.
Exception handling is provided by most modern programming languages. It allows to deal with anomalous or exceptional events which require special processing. In computer algebra, exception handling is an efficient way to implement the dynamic evaluation paradigm: for instance, in linear algebra, dynamic evaluation can be used for applying programs which have been written for matrices with coefficients in a field to matrices with coefficients in a ring. Thus, a proof system for computer algebra should include a treatement of exceptions, which must rely on a careful description of a semantics of exceptions. The categorical notion of monad can be used for formalizing the raising of exceptions: this has been proposed by Moggi and implemented in Haskell. In this paper, we provide a proof system for exceptions which involves both raising and handling, by extending Moggis approach. Moreover, the core part of this proof system is dual to a proof system for side effects in imperative languages, which relies on the categorical notion of comonad. Both proof systems are implemented in the Coq proof assistant.
The syntax of an imperative language does not mention explicitly the state, while its denotational semantics has to mention it. In this paper we present a framework for the verification in Coq of properties of programs manipulating the global state effect. These properties are expressed in a proof system which is close to the syntax, as in effect systems, in the sense that the state does not appear explicitly in the type of expressions which manipulate it. Rather, the state appears via decorations added to terms and to equations. In this system, proofs of programs thus present two aspects: properties can be verified {em up to effects} or the effects can be taken into account. The design of our Coq library consequently reflects these two aspects: our framework is centered around the construction of two inductive and dependent types, one for terms up to effects and one for the manipulation of decorations.
This paper presents equational-based logics for proving first order properties of programming languages involving effects. We propose two dual inference system patterns that can be instanciated with monads or comonads in order to be used for proving properties of different effects. The first pattern provides inference rules which can be interpreted in the Kleisli category of a monad and the coKleisli category of the associated comonad. In a dual way, the second pattern provides inference rules which can be interpreted in the coKleisli category of a comonad and the Kleisli category of the associated monad. The logics combine a 3-tier effect system for terms consisting of pure terms and two other kinds of effects called constructors/observers and modifiers, and a 2-tier system for up-to-effects and strong equations. Each pattern provides generic rules for dealing with any monad (respectively comonad), and it can be extended with specific rules for each effect. The paper presents two use cases: a language with exceptions (using the standard monadic semantics), and a language with state (using the less standard comonadic semantics). Finally, we prove that the obtained inference system for states is Hilbert-Post complete.
This note is about using computational effects for scalability. With this method, the specification gets more and more complex while its semantics gets more and more correct. We show, from two fundamental examples, that it is possible to design a deduction system for a specification involving an effect without expliciting this effect.
An algebraic method is used to study the semantics of exceptions in computer languages. The exceptions form a computational effect, in the sense that there is an apparent mismatch between the syntax of exceptions and their intended semantics. We solve this apparent contradiction by efining a logic for exceptions with a proof system which is close to their syntax and where their intended semantics can be seen as a model. This requires a robust framework for logics and their morphisms, which is provided by categorical tools relying on adjunctions, fractions and limit sketches.
We define a proof system for exceptions which is close to the syntax for exceptions, in the sense that the exceptions do not appear explicitly in the type of any expression. This proof system is sound with respect to the intended denotational semantics of exceptions. With this inference system we prove several properties of exceptions.
In this short note we study the semantics of two basic computational effects, exceptions and states, from a new point of view. In the handling of exceptions we dissociate the control from the elementary operation which recovers from the exception. In this way it becomes apparent that there is a duality, in the categorical sense, between exceptions and states.
Deduction systems and graph rewriting systems are compared within a common categorical framework. This leads to an improved deduction method in diagrammatic logics.
