A semantic basis for termination analysis of logic programs and its realization using symbolic norm constraints

Michael Codish, Cohavit Taboch

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper presents a declarative semantics which exhibits the termination properties of a logic program. The semantics associates a program with its binary unfoldings — a possibly infinite set of binary clauses. Termination of a program P and goal G is indicated by the absence of an infinite chain in the binary unfoldings of P starting with G. The main contribution is a formal semantic basis for the termination analysis of logic programs which facilitates both design and implementation. As an implementation vehicle we propose a simple meta-interpreter for binary unfoldings and the use of an abstract domain based on symbolic norm constraints. Many of the recently proposed termination analyses for logic programs can be expressed concisely within our approach. To demonstrate our approach we have reformulated the analysis originally described in [13]. The implementation uses a standard library for linear equations over the recels. The combination of binary unfoldings and a constraint solver is shown to significantly simplify the design of the analysis.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAlgebraic and Logic Programming - 6th International Joint Conference ALP 1997 ― HOA 1997, Proceedings
EditorsKarl Meinke, Michael Hanus, Jan Heering
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages31-45
Number of pages15
ISBN (Print)3540634592, 9783540634591
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 1997
Event6th International Conference on Algebraic and Logic Programming, ALP 1997 - Southampton, United Kingdom
Duration: 3 Sep 19975 Sep 1997

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume1298
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference6th International Conference on Algebraic and Logic Programming, ALP 1997
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CitySouthampton
Period3/09/975/09/97

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

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