Logic Frameworks for Logic Programs

We show how logical frameworks can provide a basis for logic program synthesis. With them, we may use first-order logic as a foundation to formalize and derive rules that constitute program development calculi. Derived rules may be in turn applied to synthesize logic programs using higher-order resolution during proof that programs meet their specifications. We illustrate this using Paulson’s Isabelle system to derive and use a simple synthesis calculus based on equivalence preserving transformations.