Proving Pointer Programs in Higher-Order Logic

This paper develops sound modelling and reasoning methods for imperative programs with pointers: heaps are modelled as mappings from addresses to values, and pointer structures are mapped to higherlevel data types for verification. The programming language is embedded in higher-order logic, its Hoare logic is derived. The whole development is purely definitional and thus sound. The viability of this approach is demonstrated with a non-trivial case study. We show the correctness of the Schorr-Waite graph marking algorithm and present part of the readable proof in Isabelle/HOL.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: CADE
• Authors: Farhad Mehta, Tobias Nipkow
• Keywords: Automated Reasoning, CADE 2003, Graph Marking Algorithm, Non-trivial Case Study, Reasoning Methods