Intro to Sequences

Sequences in Logika are fairly similar to lists in Python and arrays in Java and C#. As with lists and arrays, Logika sequences are ordered. Each element is stored at a particular (zero-based) position, and there are no gaps in the sequence.

Logika can work with sequences of integers (type ZS).

Sequence syntax

We can create new sequence variables like this:

// #Sireum #Logika
//@Logika: --background save
import org.sireum._

//creates the sequence (5, 10, 15)
var seq: ZS = ZS(5,10,15)

//creates an empty sequence of integers
var empty: ZS = ZS()

Given the following sequence:

var a: ZS = ZS(1, 2, 3)

Here is a table of the different sequence operations we will use in this course:

Sample program with a sequence

Here is a sample program that uses a sequence. The makeFirstZero function sets the first element in a sequence to 0:

// #Sireum #Logika
//@Logika: --background save
import org.sireum._

//"Unit" is like a void return type
def makeFirstZero(seq: ZS): Unit = {
    seq(0) = 0
}

///// Test code ///////////

var nums: ZS = ZS(1,2,3)

makeFirstZero(nums)
assert(nums == ZS(0,2,3))

This program will not be verified as we have not yet provided a function contract for makeZeroFirst. We will complete the verification for the program later in the section.

Predicate logic statements with sequences

When we write function contracts and loop invariants with sequences, we will need to make statements about all or some elements in a sequence. We can do this with predicate logic statements.

Statements about all sequence elements

As we did in chapters 4 and 5, we will use the universal (∀) quantifier for statements involving all elements in a sequence. The basic forms of specifying some claim P(a(x)) holds for every element in a sequence a are:

Here are several sample claims and explanations about integer sequence a:

Statements about some sequence elements

We will use the existential (∃) quantifier for statements involving one or more elements in a sequence. The basic forms of specifying claims is the same as for the universal quantifier, but using the existential quantifier instead of the universal quantifier.

Here are several sample claims and explanations about integer sequences a and b:

Statements about initial and current sequence values

When we write preconditions, postconditions, and loop invariants involving sequences, we will want a way to distinguish between the INITIAL value a sequence had at the beginning of a function and the CURRENT value for that same sequence. We will use the notation In(sequenceName) to mean the value the sequence sequenceName had at the beginning of a function. In contrast, using just sequenceName refers to the value the sequence has right now (or, in the case of a postcondition, the value a sequence is promised to have at the end of a function).

For example, the postcondition:

∀ (0 until a.size)(i => a(i) == In(a)(i) + 1

Means that when the function ends, every value in the sequence a (so each element a(i)) will be one bigger than the initial value at the same position (In(a)(i) + 1).

Shortcut to describing sequence changes

Occasionally we wish to claim that a sequence is unchanged except for a handful of positions. We can do this in a more pedantic way by describing which elements have changed and which elements have not changed, but there is also a cleaner sequence update notation we can use instead.

For example, these postconditions state that a function sets the first element (position 0) in sequence a to 10, but leaves every other element unchanged:

a(0) == 10,
∀ (1 until a.size)(x => (a(x) == In(a)(x)))

We could have described the same set of changes using the sequence update notation as follows:

a ≡ In(a)(0 ~> 10)

The statement above says that the resulting value of sequence a is equivalent to the initial value of sequence a (In(a)) except that position 0 now holds a 10.