Computer-Aided Reasoning: An Approach
Authors: Matt Kaufmann, J. Strother Moore, Panagiotis Manolios
Venue:  (2000)

:An Approach Computer-Aided Reasoning: An Approach is a textbook introduction to computer-aided reasoning. It can be used in graduate and upper-division undergraduate courses on software engineering or formal methods. It is also suitable in conjunction with other books in courses on hardware design, discrete mathematics, or theory, especially courses stressing formalism, rigor, or mechanized support. It is also appropriate for courses on artificial intelligence or automated reasoning and as a reference for business and industry. Current hardware and software systems are often very complex and the trend is towards increased complexity. Many of these systems are of critical importance; therefore making sure that they behave as expected is also of critical importance. By modeling computing systems mathematically, we obtain models that we can prove behave correctly. The complexity of computing systems makes such proofs very long, complicated, and error-prone. To further increase confidence in our reasoning, we can use a computer program to check our proofs and even to automate some of their construction. In this book we present: A practical functional programming language closely related to Common Lisp which is used to define functions (which can model computing systems) and to make assertions about defined functions; A formal logic in which defined functions correspond to axioms; the logic is first-order, includes induction, and allows us to prove theorems about the functions; The computer-aided reasoning system ACL2, which includes the programming language, the logic, and mechanical support for the proof process. The ACL2 system hasbeen successfully applied to projects of commercial interest, including microprocessor, modeling, hardware verification, microcode verification, and software verification. This book gives a methodology for modeling computing systems formally and for reasoning about those models with mechanized assistance. The practicality of computer-aided reasoning is further demonstrated in the companion book, Computer-Aided Reasoning: ACL2 Case Studies. Approximately 140 exercises are distributed throughout the book. Additional material is freely available from the ACL2 home page on the Web, http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/moore/ac12, including solutions to the exercises, additional exercises, case studies from the companion book, research papers, and the ACL2 system with detailed documentation. ACL2 Case Studies Computer-Aided Reasoning: ACL2 Case Studies illustrates how the computer-aided reasoning system ACL2 can be used in productive and innovative ways to design, build, and maintain hardware and software systems. Included here are technical papers written by twenty-one contributors that report on self-contained case studies, some of which are sanitized industrial projects. The papers deal with a wide variety of ideas, including floating-point arithmetic, microprocessor simulation, model checking, symbolic trajectory evaluation, compilation, proof checking, real analysis, and several others. Computer-Aided Reasoning: ACL2 Case Studies is meant for two audiences: those looking for innovative ways to design, build, and maintain hardware and software systems faster and more reliably, and those wishing to learn how to do this. The former audience includes project managers and students in survey-oriented courses. The latter audience includes students and professionals pursuing rigorous approaches to hardware and software engineering or formal methods. Computer-Aided Reasoning: ACL2 Case Studies can be used in graduate and upper-division undergraduate courses on Software Engineering, Formal Methods, Hardware Design, Theory of Computation, Artificial Intelligence, and Automated Reasoning. The book is divided into two parts. Part I begins with a discussion of the effort involved in using ACL2. It also contains a brief introduction to the ACL2 logic and its mechanization, which is intended to give the reader sufficient background to read the case studies. A more thorough, textbook introduction to ACL2 may be found in the companion book, Computer-Aided Reasoning: An Approach. The heart of the book is Part II, where the case studies are presented. The case studies contain exercises whose solutions are on the Web. In addition, the complete ACL2 scripts necessary to formalize the models and prove all the properties discussed are on the Web. For example, when we say that one of the case studies formalizes a floating-point multiplier and proves it correct, we mean that not only can you read an English description of the model and how it was proved correct, but you can obtain the entire formal content of the project and replay the proofs, if you wish, with your copy of ACL2. ACL2 may be obtained from its home page, http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/moore/ac12. The results reported in each case study, as ACL2 input scripts, as well as exercise solutions for both books, are available from this page.