Friedman, Daniel P. (Professor, Indiana University)

The Little Prover - The Little Prover Friedman, Daniel P. (Professor, Indiana University)

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. Commendation Quotes: What can you learn about a program without actually running it? What can you know by reading the code? In the grand tradition of "The Little LISPer" and "The Little Schemer," Dan Friedman and Carl Eastlund elegantly present small programs that contain big ideas, but now also show how to prove claims about their behavior. The question-and-answer format makes it surprisingly easy to learn and master inductive proof techniques -- it's like eating peanuts! Don't overlook the concise and elegant code for the J-Bob proof assistant itself, tucked in the back. "The Little Prover" is a marvelous introduction to the program proof techniques used in such tools as ACL2, Isabelle, and Coq. Commendation Quotes: Friedman and Eastlund's "The Little Prover" is a gentle introduction to the nuts and bolts of formal proofs about programs. Following on from "The Little Schemer," it is an excellent guide for both thoughtful functional programmers wondering what it really means to know that a program is correct and do-it-yourselfers who want a taste of how proof assistants like ACL2 do their work. Bring your sense of humor and your thinking cap!Commendation Quotes: Computational theorem proving is so useful, effective, and important that its advocates present it in economic terms: about preventing costly errors in software and protocols. What gets lost is just how much "fun" it can be. Friedman and Eastlund, two jolly characters, eschew talk of bugs and bombs, and strip it to its essence as only a "Little" book can. Want proof? Look inside!

Contributor Bio:  Friedman, Daniel P Daniel P. Friedman is Professor of Computer Science at Indiana University and coauthor of "The Little Schemer" (fourth edition), "The Reasoned Schemer, The Seasoned Schemer", and " Essentials of Programming Languages "(third edition), all published by the MIT Press. Contributor Bio:  Bibby, Duane Matthias Felleisen is Trustee Professor of Computer Science at Northeastern University, recipient of the Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award, and co-author (with Daniel Friedman) of "The Little Schemer" and three other "Little" books published by the MIT Press. Contributor Bio:  Felleisen, Matthias, Et Matthias Felleisen is Trustee Professor of Computer Science at Northeastern University, recipient of the Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award, and co-author (with Daniel Friedman) of "The Little Schemer" and three other "Little" books published by the MIT Press.