An Operational Foundation for Delimited Continuations in the CPS Hierarchy

Forfattere

  • Malgorzata Biernacka
  • Dariusz Biernacki
  • Olivier Danvy

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7146/brics.v12i11.21877

Resumé

We present an abstract machine and a reduction semantics for the lambda-calculus extended with control operators that give access to delimited continuations in the CPS hierarchy. The abstract machine is derived from an evaluator in continuation-passing style (CPS); the reduction semantics (i.e., a small-step operational semantics with an explicit representation of evaluation contexts) is constructed from the abstract machine; and the control operators are the shift and reset family. At level n of the CPS hierarchy, programs can use the control operators shift_i and reset_i for 1 <= i <= n , the evaluator has n + 1 layers of continuations, the abstract machine has n + 1 layers of control stacks, and the reduction semantics has n + 1 layers of evaluation contexts.

We also present new applications of delimited continuations in the CPS hierarchy: finding list prefixes and normalization by evaluation for a hierarchical language of units and products.

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Publiceret

2005-03-11

Citation/Eksport

Biernacka, M., Biernacki, D., & Danvy, O. (2005). An Operational Foundation for Delimited Continuations in the CPS Hierarchy. BRICS Report Series, 12(11). https://doi.org/10.7146/brics.v12i11.21877

Nummer

Nr. 11 (2005): RS-11 An Operational Foundation for Delimited Continuations in the CPS Hierarchy

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