Algorithmic program synthesis: introduction

Program synthesis is a process of producing an executable program from a specification. Algorithmic synthesis produces the program automatically, without an intervention from an expert. While classical compilation falls under the definition of algorithmic program synthesis, with the source program b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal on software tools for technology transfer Vol. 15; no. 5-6; pp. 397 - 411
Main Authors: Bodik, Rastislav, Jobstmann, Barbara
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.10.2013
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Algorithms
Automation
Categories
Computer programs
Computer Science
Introduction
Lists
Searching
Software Engineering
Software Engineering/Programming and Operating Systems
Specifications
Synthesis
Theory of Computation
Transformations
Specifications of Program Correctness
Formal Methods
Controller Synthesis
Program synthesis
ISSN:1433-2779, 1433-2787
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Program synthesis is a process of producing an executable program from a specification. Algorithmic synthesis produces the program automatically, without an intervention from an expert. While classical compilation falls under the definition of algorithmic program synthesis, with the source program being the specification, the synthesis literature is typically concerned with producing programs that cannot be (easily) obtained with the deterministic transformations of a compiler. To this end, synthesis algorithms often perform a search, either in a space of candidate programs or in a space of transformations that might be composed to transform the specification into a desired program. In this introduction to the special journal issue, we survey the history of algorithmic program synthesis and introduce the contributed articles. We divide the field into reactive synthesis , which is concerned with automata-theoretic techniques for controllers that handle an infinite stream of requests, and functional synthesis , which produces programs consuming finite input. Contributed articles are divided analogously. We also provide pointers to synthesis work outside these categories and list many applications of synthesis.
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ISSN:1433-2779
1433-2787
DOI:10.1007/s10009-013-0287-9