Advances in Property-Based Testing for $α$Prolog

James Cheney; Alberto Momigliano; Matteo Pessina

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arXiv · 1604.08345

Advances in Property-Based Testing for $α$Prolog

James Cheney·Alberto Momigliano·Matteo Pessina

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Abstract

$α$Check is a light-weight property-based testing tool built on top of $α$Prolog, a logic programming language based on nominal logic. $α$Prolog is particularly suited to the validation of the meta-theory of formal systems, for example correctness of compiler translations involving name-binding, alpha-equivalence and capture-avoiding substitution. In this paper we describe an alternative to the negation elimination algorithm underlying $α$Check that substantially improves its effectiveness. To substantiate this claim we compare the checker performances w.r.t. two of its main competitors in the logical framework niche, namely the QuickCheck/Nitpick combination offered by Isabelle/HOL and the random testing facility in PLT-Redex.

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James Cheney, Alberto Momigliano, Matteo Pessina. 2016-04-29. Advances in Property-Based Testing for $α$Prolog. https://arxiv.org/abs/1604.08345

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