{-# LANGUAGE CPP #-} #ifdef __HASTE__ import Haste.DOM import Haste.Events import System.Random #else import System.Console.Haskeline #endif import Control.Monad import Data.Bool import Data.Char import Data.List import Data.Maybe import Data.Tuple import Text.Parsec data Term = S String | V String | Lam String Term Term | Pi String Term Term | App Term Term | Prim String [Term]
Lambda calculus vending machine
(□,□)
(□,∗)
λU
λU−
λZ
Custom
How do we create the above? We begin with a humbler goal: to augment System Fω with an abstraction that maps terms to types.
Recall we already 3 abstractions: one for mapping terms to terms (lambda calculus), one for types to terms (universal types), and one for types to types (type operators). Once we add the term-to-type abstraction (dependent types), we obtain the calculus of constructions; see Coquand and Huet. In this system, it turns out type checking is still decidable, and well-typed terms are still strongly normalizing.
We could extend our data types to support yet another flavour of abstraction
and application, but we let’s pause and reflect. Already, code duplication is
rife in our interpreters: the Kind
, Type
, and Term
data types are
similar, and type-level beta reduction and evaluation closely mirrors the
corresponding term-level routines.
Isn’t an expression just one big tree? Can we design a data type to represent nodes of any variety, be it term, type, or kind? Perhaps an enum to distinguish between the cases?
One simple data structure
Incredibly, we can represent terms, types, and kinds in one simple data
structure. Duplicate code almost vanishes completely: what little that remains
(mostly overlap between the Lam
and Pi
cases) would likely be messier if we
zealously removed every last repetition.
In our code, we call the data type Term
, but it really is a pseudo-term
because it represents a node at any level: terms, types, kinds, and so on.
We define the V
constructor for constants and variables of all varieties:
term variables, type variables, kinds variables, and beyond. The Lam
constructor is for abstractions, again for all sorts: terms, types, and so on,
which can map to terms, types, and so on. The App
constructor plays a similar
role for applications. So far, our data structure is almost the same as the
Term
data structure we defined for untyped lambda calculus!
Base types are held in a V
variant, for example V "Nat"
or V "Bool"
.
We represent the base kind *
as S "*"
. We’ll sometimes overload the word
"type" to mean any type, or the base kind *
.
The Pi
constructor is for types that are built from these. It generalizes
the arrow type we encountered in simply typed lambda calculus as well as the
universal type we encountered in System F and HM, which is why our parser
accepts forall
in place of pi
. Some examples:
-
The type
Nat → Bool
becomesPi "_" (V "Nat") (V "Bool")
. The string value is unused when representing arrow types. We choose the underscore to, shall we say, underscore this fact. -
The type
forall X::*.X
becomesPi "X" (S "*") (V "X")
.
As we can mix terms and types in any order a Pi
variant, it can represent
dependent types, that is, the type of an abstraction that takes terms to types.
We’ll discuss the Prim
constructor later.
Here’s the code to compare pseudo-terms:
instance Eq Term where t1 == t2 = f [] t1 t2 where f _ (S s) (S t) = s == t f alpha (V s) (V t) | Just t' <- lookup s alpha = t' == t | Just _ <- lookup t (swap <$> alpha) = False | otherwise = s == t f alpha (Pi s ks x) (Pi t kt y) | not (f alpha ks kt) = False | s == t = f alpha x y | otherwise = f ((s, t):alpha) x y f alpha (Lam s ks x) (Lam t kt y) | not (f alpha ks kt) = False | s == t = f alpha x y | otherwise = f ((s, t):alpha) x y f alpha (App a b) (App c d) = f alpha a c && f alpha b d f _ _ _ = False
and to print them:
showArrow t u = showL t ++ "->" ++ showR u where showL (Lam _ _ _) = "(" ++ show t ++ ")" showL (Pi _ _ _) = "(" ++ show t ++ ")" showL _ = show t showR (Lam _ _ _) = "(" ++ show u ++ ")" showR (Pi "_" _ _) = show u showR (Pi _ _ _) = "(" ++ show u ++ ")" showR _ = show u instance Show Term where show (Prim s a) = "{" ++ s ++ "[" ++ intercalate ", " (show <$> a) ++ "]}" show (S s) = s show (V v) = v show (Lam x t u) = "\0955" ++ x ++ ":" ++ show t ++ "." ++ show u show (Pi "_" t u) = showArrow t u show (Pi x t u) | x `notElem` fv [] u = showArrow t u show (Pi x t y) = "\0960" ++ x ++ ":" ++ show t ++ "." ++ show y show (App x y) = showL x ++ showR y where showL (Pi _ _ _) = "(" ++ show x ++ ")" showL (Lam _ _ _) = "(" ++ show x ++ ")" showL _ = show x showR (V s) = ' ':s showR _ = "(" ++ show y ++ ")"
and to parse them (the axiom
keyword will be explained later):
data PTSLine = None | TopLet String Term | Axiom String Term | Run Term line :: ([String], [String]) -> Parsec String () PTSLine line (ss, syn) = between ws eof $ option None $ axiom <|> (try $ TopLet <$> v <*> (str "=" >> term)) <|> (Run <$> term) where axiom = str "axiom" >> Axiom <$> v <*> (str "=" >> term) keywords = ["forall", "pi", "axiom"] `union` bool [] ["ifz", "then", "else"] ("ifz" `elem` syn) `union` bool [] ["if", "then", "else"] ("if" `elem` syn) term = ifzPerhaps $ ifPerhaps $ pi <|> lam <|> arr ifzPerhaps = bool id (ifzthenelse <|>) $ "ifz" `elem` syn ifPerhaps = bool id (ifthenelse <|>) $ "if" `elem` syn ifzthenelse = Prim "ifz" <$> sequence [str "ifz" >> term, str "then" >> term, str "else" >> term] ifthenelse = Prim "if" <$> sequence [str "if" >> term, str "then" >> term, str "else" >> term] lam = flip (foldr $ uncurry Lam) <$> between lam0 lam1 (many1 vt) <*> term where lam0 = str "\\" <|> str "\0955" lam1 = str "." pi = flip (foldr $ uncurry Pi) <$> between pi0 pi1 (many1 vt) <*> term where pi0 = str "forall" <|> str "pi" <|> str "\0960" <|> str "\8704" pi1 = str "." vt = (,) <$> v <*> option (S $ head ss) ((str "::" <|> str ":") >> term) <|> between (str "(") (str ")") vt arr = (app <|> (foldr1 (<|>) $ (S <$>) . str <$> ss)) `chainr1` (str "->" >> pure (Pi "_")) app = foldl1' App <$> many1 ((V <$> v) <|> between (str "(") (str ")") term <|> between (str "[") (str "]") term) v = try $ do s <- many1 alphaNum when (s `elem` keywords) $ fail $ "unexpected " ++ s ws pure s str s = try $ do void $ string s let c = last s when (isAlphaNum c && isAscii c) $ notFollowedBy alphaNum ws pure s ws = spaces >> optional (try $ string "--" >> many anyChar)
No surprises; or perhaps the surprise is that the code is so similar to the corresponding functions in our previous interpreters.
Type checking
The Lam
and Pi
variants have the same fields, and act similarly in
parts of our code, but:
-
The type of a
Lam
is aPi
. The type of aPi
is anS
. -
Evaluating
Lam
means beta reduction. EvaluatingPi
means nothing; it’s just type information.
We seed our system the results of certain type checks and kind checks, which we collectively call judgements, such as:
Nat : * 0 : Nat Bool : * true : Bool
This is similar to defining base types and constants in simply typed lambda calculus.
We have special cases to handle if
and ifz
, but otherwise judging a
pseudo-term is similar to typing terms in our previous interpreters:
-
Each variable should be bound, and its type should be built from the value
S "*"
, and theV
andPi
variants. TheV
values denote (bound) type variables or base types. -
In an application, the first term must be an abstraction, and the second term must be something the abstraction expects.
-
Terms and types may be freely mixed.
-
To determine if two types match, we normalize them before comparing. To determine if a type represents an abstraction, we find the weak head normal form first.
However, unlike our previous interpreters, we represent terms and types in the
same data structure, so the eval
and norm
functions work for both.
Our implementation is naive. As a result, our type checking may be incomplete. It works for our examples so we tolerate the sloppiness.
Pure Type Systems
With a few tweaks, not only can our code be reused to interpret any vertex of the lambda cube, but also an infinite number of exotic typed lambda calculi beyond those we’ve seen so far.
We start by defining a set of valid S
values, known as sorts:
-
S "*"
-
S "□"
[Instead of a box, we sometimes use a question mark for easier typing, and also because I have no idea why they chose the box symbol.]
The first value S "*"
represents the base kind, that is, the type of types.
The box value represents the type of the base kind, which we state as
the axiom:
* : □
Then an expression is valid if and only if the type of its type is one of
these two values. The type of the type of a term is *
and the type of the
type of a type is □
.
Once we get used to two levels of indirection, then the above becomes concise and elegant. We do something twice to an expression, and if we wind up with one of two strange symbols then we know it’s valid, and furthermore, whether it’s a term or a type.
Next, consider a value Pi x a b
. Here x
is a variable name, and a
and
b
are terms. Suppose the type of a
is *
and the type of b
is □
.
Our Pi
is the type of some Lam
abstraction, and by the above, this
abstraction must map terms to types (because the type of the type of input is
*
and the type of the type of the output is □
).
Reasoning in this way, we see that if Pi x a b
is the type of a valid Lam
abstraction, the type of a
must be one of *
or □
and the type of b
must also be one of *
or □
, and furthermore, their types tell us whether
the input and output of the abstraction are terms or types.
Thus by restricting the types that a
and b
may have, we limit the
abstractions allowed in our language. For example, if we stipulate that
(a, b)
must be one of:
(*, *) (□, □)
then a well-typed Lam
abstraction can only map terms to terms, or types
to types, that is, we have the system \(\lambda\underline{\omega}\).
Similarly, restricting (a, b)
to one of:
(*, *) (□, *)
results in System F, that is, maps from terms to terms plus maps from types to terms.
The tuples describing allowable types of the terms of a Pi
value are called
rules. The sorts, axioms, and rules fully specify a Pure Type System (PTS);
our code holds them in a parameter named sar
.
Usually, the type of Pi x a b
is the type of b
, but sometimes we want
it to have a different type, so a rule is a 3-tuple of sorts: the first 2
are the types of a
and b
, and the last is the type of the Pi x a b
.
This leads to
judge sar@(axioms, rules) env@(gamma, lets) term = case term of Prim "if" [x, y, z] -> do t <- eval lets <$> rec x case t of V "Bool" -> do ty <- norm lets <$> rec y tz <- norm lets <$> rec z when (ty /= tz) $ Left $ "if types: " ++ show y ++ " /= " ++ show z pure ty _ -> Left $ "if want Bool: " ++ show x Prim "ifz" [x, y, z] -> do t <- eval lets <$> rec x case t of V "Nat" -> do ty <- norm lets <$> rec y tz <- norm lets <$> rec z when (ty /= tz) $ Left $ "if types: " ++ show y ++ " /= " ++ show z pure ty _ -> Left $ "ifz want Nat: " ++ show x S s1 | Just s2 <- lookup s1 axioms -> pure $ S s2 V v | Just t <- lookup v gamma -> pure t Lam x a m -> do r <- Pi x a <$> judge sar ((x, a):gamma, lets) m s <- rec r case s of S _ -> pure r _ -> Left $ "Lam: " ++ show term Pi x a b -> do t1 <- rec a t2 <- judge sar ((x, a):gamma, lets) b case (t1, t2) of (S s1, S s2) | Just s3 <- lookup (s1, s2) rules -> pure $ S s3 | otherwise -> Left $ "Pi no R: " ++ s1 ++ " " ++ s2 _ -> Left $ "Pi want S S: " ++ show term App m n -> do p <- rec m case eval lets p of Pi x a b -> do a' <- rec n when (norm lets a /= norm lets a') $ Left $ "App: " ++ show a ++ " /= " ++ show a' pure $ beta (x, n) b _ -> Left $ "App want pi: " ++ show term _ -> Left $ "_: " ++ show term where rec = judge sar env
Beta reduction is mostly unchanged:
beta (v, a) term = case term of S _ -> term V s | s == v -> a | otherwise -> term Lam s t m | s == v -> term | s `elem` fvs -> let s1 = newName s fvs in Lam s1 (rec t) $ rec $ rename s s1 m | otherwise -> Lam s (rec t) (rec m) Pi s t m | s == v -> term | s `elem` fvs -> let s1 = newName s fvs in Pi s1 (rec t) $ rec $ rename s s1 m | otherwise -> Pi s (rec t) (rec m) App m n -> App (rec m) (rec n) Prim s xs -> Prim s $ rec <$> xs where fvs = fv [] a rec = beta (v, a) newName x ys = head $ filter (`notElem` ys) $ (s ++) . show <$> [1..] where s = dropWhileEnd isDigit x fv vs (S _) = vs fv vs (V s) | s `elem` vs = [] | otherwise = [s] fv vs (Lam s x y) = fv vs x `union` fv (s:vs) y fv vs (Pi s x y) = fv vs x `union` fv (s:vs) y fv vs (App x y) = fv vs x `union` fv vs y fv vs (Prim _ xs) = foldr1 union $ fv vs <$> xs rename x x1 term = case term of S _ -> term V s | s == x -> V x1 | otherwise -> term Lam s t b | s == x -> term | otherwise -> Lam s (rec t) (rec b) Pi s t b | s == x -> term | otherwise -> Pi s (rec t) (rec b) App a b -> App (rec a) (rec b) where rec = rename x x1
Evaluation
For each language primitive, the prim
function looks up its arity, type, and
Haskell function. The types of if
and ifz
are undefined because they
are found during type checking.
toPrim1 f = \env [x] -> f (eval env x) toPrim2 f = \env [x, y] -> f (eval env x) (eval env y) toPrimNat1 f = toPrim1 g where g (V s) = V $ show $ f (read s :: Integer) toPrimNat2 f = toPrim2 g where g (V s) (V t) = V $ show $ f (read s :: Integer) (read t :: Integer) prim "succ" = (1, Pi "_" (V "Nat") (V "Nat"), toPrimNat1 (+1)) prim "pred" = (1, Pi "_" (V "Nat") (V "Nat"), toPrimNat1 $ max 0 . (+(-1))) prim "add" = (2, Pi "_" (V "Nat") (Pi "_" (V "Nat") (V "Nat")), toPrimNat2 (+)) prim "mul" = (2, Pi "_" (V "Nat") (Pi "_" (V "Nat") (V "Nat")), toPrimNat2 (*)) prim "fix" = (2, Pi "A" (S "*") (Pi "_" (Pi "_" (V "A") (V "A")) (V "A")), \env [x, y] -> eval env $ App y $ Prim "fix" [x, y]) prim "if" = (3, undefined, \env [x, y, z] -> let x' = eval env x in case x' of V "true" -> eval env y V "false" -> eval env z _ -> Prim "if" [x', y, z]) prim "ifz" = (3, undefined, \env [x, y, z] -> let x' = eval env x in case x' of V s -> case readInteger s of Just 0 -> eval env y Just _ -> eval env z _ -> Prim "ifz" [x', y, z] _ -> Prim "ifz" [x', y, z]) readInteger s = listToMaybe $ fst <$> (reads s :: [(Integer, String)])
The eval
function remains about the same except for a special case for
evaluating a primitive once enough arguments have been supplied.
eval env (Prim s args) | n == length args = f env $ args where (n, _, f) = prim s eval env (App m a) = let m' = eval env m in case m' of Lam v _ f -> eval env $ beta (v, a) f Prim s args -> eval env $ Prim s (args ++ [a]) _ -> App m' a eval env term@(V v) | Just x <- lookup v env = case x of V v' | v == v' -> x _ -> eval env x eval _ term = term norm env term = case eval env term of S s -> S s V v -> V v -- Record abstraction variable to avoid clashing with let definitions. Lam v t m -> Lam v (norm env t) $ norm ((v, V v):env) m Pi v t m -> Pi v (norm env t) $ norm ((v, V v):env) m App m n -> App (rec m) (rec n) Prim s a -> Prim s $ norm env <$> a where rec = norm env
User Interface
Our elaborate vending machine requires tedious data entry. We list the predefined primitives for each "topping":
primGamma s | (_, t, _) <- prim s = (s, t) gammaAdds "Fix" = [primGamma "fix"] gammaAdds "Nat" = [("Nat", S "*"), ("0", V "Nat")] ++ (primGamma <$> ["succ", "pred", "add", "mul"]) gammaAdds "Bool" = [("Bool", S "*"), ("false", V "Bool"), ("true", V "Bool")] gammaAdds _ = [] primLets s = (s, Prim s []) letsAdds "Fix" = [primLets "fix"] letsAdds "Nat" = primLets <$> ["succ", "pred", "add", "mul"] letsAdds _ = [] synAdds "Nat" = ["ifz"] synAdds "Bool" = ["if"] synAdds _ = []
A simplistic parser reads specifications for pure type systems:
parseSpec = foldr1 g . (f . words <$>) . lines where f ["A", s, t] = ([(s, t)], []) f ["R", s, t] = ([], [((s, t), t)]) f ["R", s, t, u] = ([], [((s, t), u)]) f _ = ([], []) -- Silently ignore everything else. g (a, b) (c, d) = (a ++ c, b ++ d) sOf (as, _) = foldr union [] $ f <$> as where f (a, b) = [a] `union` [b]
The vending machine slogan is a frivolous feature, but fun to write.
Clicking a certain link calls code that randomly picks a line from
the following textarea
as the slogan.
Other textarea
elements contain values for other presets. We hide them
to avoid clutter.
The UI code is even more verbose than usual to handle the pure-type-system specifications, language primitives, and the pretty lambda cube.
#ifdef __HASTE__ main = withElems ["input", "output", "spec", "starbox", "boxbox", "boxstar", "lcube", "custom", "evalB", "clearB", "factB", "factP", "eqB", "eqP", "indB", "indP", "blurb", "slogan", "slogans", "newSlogan"] $ \[iEl, oEl, specE, prop2typeE, type2typeE, type2propE, lcubeE, customE, evalB, clearB, factB, factP, eqB, eqP, indB, indP, blurbE, sloganE, slogansE, newSloganE] -> do let getTopping s = do Just el <- elemById $ "add" ++ s pure (s, el) toppings <- mapM getTopping ["Fix", "Nat", "Bool"] verts <- catMaybes <$> sequence (elemById . ("cube" ++) . show <$> [0..7]) slogans <- lines <$> getProp slogansE "value" let run sar (out, env) (Left err) = (out ++ "parse error: " ++ show err ++ "\n", env) run sar (out, env@(types, lets)) (Right m) = case m of None -> (out, env) Run term -> case judge sar env term of Left msg -> (out ++ "judge: " ++ msg ++ "\n", env) Right t -> (out ++ show (norm lets term) ++ "\n", env) TopLet s term -> case judge sar env term of Left msg -> (out ++ "judge: " ++ msg ++ "\n", env) Right t -> (out ++ "[" ++ s ++ ":" ++ show (norm lets t) ++ "]\n", ((s, t):types, (s, term):lets)) Axiom s term -> case judge sar env term of Left msg -> (out ++ "judge: " ++ msg ++ "\n", env) Right _ -> (out ++ s ++ " : " ++ show term ++ "\n", ((s, term):types, lets)) cubeSpec = do let spec0 = "A * ?\nR * *\n" f p sn = bool ("", 0) sn . ("true" ==) <$> getProp p "checked" g (a, b) (c, d) = (a ++ c, b + d) setProp specE "readOnly" "true" setProp type2propE "disabled" "" setProp type2typeE "disabled" "" setProp prop2typeE "disabled" "" a <- f type2propE ("R ? *\n", 1) b <- f type2typeE ("R ? ?\n", 2) c <- f prop2typeE ("R * ?\n", 4) let (spec1, n) = foldr1 g [a, b, c] setProp specE "value" (spec0 ++ spec1) mapM_ (\e -> setProp e "style" "") verts setProp (verts!!n) "style" "stroke-width:1.1;stroke:black;" blurb <- elemById $ "cube" ++ show n ++ "Blurb" case blurb of Nothing -> setProp blurbE "innerHTML" "" Just e -> setProp blurbE "innerHTML" =<< getProp e "value" disableCube = do setProp prop2typeE "disabled" "disabled" setProp type2typeE "disabled" "disabled" setProp type2propE "disabled" "disabled" mapM_ (\e -> setProp e "style" "") verts sarPreset id = do Just b <- elemById id Just blurb <- elemById $ id ++ "Blurb" Just sar <- elemById $ id ++ "SAR" sarV <- getProp sar "value" blurbV <- getProp blurb "value" void $ b `onEvent` Click $ const $ do setProp blurbE "innerHTML" blurbV setSar sarV setSar sar = do setProp specE "value" sar disableCube setProp specE "readOnly" "true" newSlogan :: IO () newSlogan = setProp sloganE "innerHTML" . (slogans!!) =<< getStdRandom (randomR (0, length slogans - 1)) newSlogan void $ newSloganE `onEvent` Click $ const newSlogan void $ prop2typeE `onEvent` Click $ const cubeSpec void $ type2typeE `onEvent` Click $ const cubeSpec void $ type2propE `onEvent` Click $ const cubeSpec void $ lcubeE `onEvent` Click $ const cubeSpec mapM_ sarPreset ["lstar", "sysu", "sysuminus", "lz"] void $ customE `onEvent` Click $ const $ do disableCube setProp blurbE "innerHTML" "" setProp specE "readOnly" "" let cubeSelect n = do setProp lcubeE "checked" "true" setProp type2propE "checked" $ bool "" "true" $ odd n setProp type2typeE "checked" $ bool "" "true" $ odd (n `div` 2) setProp prop2typeE "checked" $ bool "" "true" $ odd (n `div` 4) cubeSpec cubeClick el n = el `onEvent` Click $ const $ cubeSelect n setToppings ts = mapM_ f toppings where f (s, el) = setProp el "checked" $ bool "" "true" $ s `elem` ts cubeSelect 7 zipWithM_ cubeClick verts [0..7] void $ factB `onEvent` Click $ const $ do getProp factP "value" >>= setProp iEl "value" setProp oEl "value" "" setToppings ["Fix", "Nat"] cubeSelect 0 void $ eqB `onEvent` Click $ const $ do getProp eqP "value" >>= setProp iEl "value" setProp oEl "value" "" setToppings [] cubeSelect 7 void $ indB `onEvent` Click $ const $ do getProp indP "value" >>= setProp iEl "value" setProp oEl "value" "" setToppings [] cubeSelect 7 void $ clearB `onEvent` Click $ const $ setProp oEl "value" "" void $ evalB `onEvent` Click $ const $ do sar <- parseSpec <$> getProp specE "value" let isChecked (s, el) = bool Nothing (Just s) . ("true" ==) <$> getProp el "checked" ts <- catMaybes <$> mapM isChecked toppings let lets0 = concatMap letsAdds ts gamma0 = concatMap gammaAdds ts syn0 = concatMap synAdds ts es <- map (parse (line (sOf sar, syn0)) "") . lines <$> getProp iEl "value" setProp oEl "value" $ fst $ foldl' (run sar) ("", (gamma0, lets0)) es #else theLot = ["Fix", "Nat", "Bool"] syn0 = concatMap synAdds theLot lets0 = concatMap letsAdds theLot gamma0 = concatMap gammaAdds theLot repl env@(types, lets) = do let redo = repl env sar = parseSpec $ unlines ["A * ?", "R * *", "R ? *", "R ? ?", "R * ?"] ms <- getInputLine "> " case ms of Nothing -> outputStrLn "" Just s -> do case parse (line (sOf sar, syn0)) "" s of Left err -> do outputStrLn $ "parse error: " ++ show err redo Right None -> redo Right (TopLet s term) -> case judge sar env term of Left msg -> outputStrLn ("judge: " ++ msg) >> redo Right ty -> do outputStrLn $ "[type = " ++ show (norm lets ty) ++ "]" repl ((s, ty):types, (s, term):lets) Right (Axiom s term) -> case judge sar env term of Left msg -> outputStrLn ("judge: " ++ msg) >> redo Right _ -> repl ((s, term):types, lets) Right (Run term) -> case judge sar env term of Left msg -> outputStrLn ("judge: " ++ msg) >> redo Right ty -> outputStrLn (show $ norm lets term) >> redo main = runInputT defaultSettings $ repl (gamma0, lets0) #endif
Theorems and Proofs
Adding dependent types to Fω results in a system rich enough to express mathematical theorems and proofs via the Curry-Howard correspondence. In fact, the Coq proof assistant originally used the calculus of constructions.
For example, Leibniz equality translates to:
eq = \(A:*)(x:A)(y:A).forall p:A->*.p x->p y
Then the theorem that equality is reflexive, that is, x = x
for all x
,
is the type:
forall (A:*)(x:A). eq A x x
To prove this theorem, we show this type is inhabited, that is, there exists a valid term with this type. We do this by judging the following term:
\(A:*)(x:A)(p:A -> *)(h:p x).h
This term is well-typed, and moreover, its type is precisely the theorem that equality is reflexive, proving the theorem. Assuming there are no bugs in our type-checking code, this proof is flawless.
Despite its power, the calculus of constructions leaves a lot to be desired.
To prove many basic facts, the principle of mathematical induction must be
explicitly asserted. We support this with the axiom
keyword:
axiom natInd = forall(n:nat)(P:nat->*).P O ->(forall m:nat.P m -> P (S m))->P n
which simply declares natInd
to be an inhabitant of the type on the
right-hand side. We check that the type is valid, but the term natInd
is
exempt from type checking: it gets a free pass and any time we’re asked, its
type is stated to be forall(n:nat)(P:nat→*).P O →(forall m:nat.P m → P (S
m))→P n
. We then use natInd
to prove theorems by induction.
Later versions of Coq employ a richer system known as the calculus of inductive constructions (CIC), which can be viewed as a generalization of λZ, as its specification is described by:
-- Compare with λZ: -- Set, Prop <-> * -- Type{n} <-> □n. ["A = Set Type0", "A = Prop Type0"] ++ ["A = Type" ++ show i ++ " Type" ++ show (i + 1) | i <- [0..]] ++ ["R = Prop Prop", "R = Set Prop", "R = Prop Set", "R = Set Set"] ++ ["R = Type" ++ show i ++ " Prop" | i <- [0..]] ++ ["R = Type" ++ show i ++ " Set" | i <- [0..]] ++ ["R = Type" ++ show i ++ " Type" ++ show j ++ " Type" ++ show (max i j) | i <- [0..], j <- [0..]]
In addition, Coq defines inductive types. We’ll omit their description here,
and just say induction and provably terminating recursion is built into
the system, obivating the need for awkward axiom
assertions.
Coq v8 and later remove rules of the form:
["R = Type" ++ show i ++ " Set" | i <- [0..]]
resulting in a weaker system known as the Predicative Calculus of Inductive Constructions (pCIC). This helps the extraction of efficient programs from proofs. For example:
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We write a type that represents the theorem: given a list, there exists a sorted list containing the same elements.
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We write a term with this type.
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Since our system is a constructive logic, to prove the existence of a sorted list is to describe how to construct a sorted list. We can extract a program from our term that sorts a list.
Coq removes type information from the resulting sort program, as it has already been checked. The program is guaranteed to be bug-free, assuming Coq itself contains no bugs.
Researchers have applied the above to build CompCert C, a provably correct C compiler.