Concurrent Abstract Predicates

Mike Dodds ( University of Cambridge )

Abstraction is key to understanding and reasoning about large computer systems. Abstraction is simple to achieve if data structures are disjoint, but rather difficult when they are partially shared, as is often the case for concurrent modules. In this talk I will present a program logic for reasoning abstractly about data structures that provides a fiction of disjointness and permits compositional reasoning. The internal details of a module are completely hidden from the client by concurrent abstract predicates. This logic reasons about a module's implementation using separation logic with permissions, and provide abstract specifications for use by client programs using concurrent abstract predicates. I will illustrate this proof system with the example of a set module.