CIS 301. Logical Foundations of Programming

Fall 2002 Syllabus

Where, When, Who?

Location and Time: 122 Nichols Hall, MWF 10:30-11:20 A.M.

Instructor and E-Mail:

Torben Amtoft tamtoft@cis.ksu.edu  
Office and Phone: 216 Nichols Hall, ph. 532-6350  
Homepage URL: www.cis.ksu.edu/~tamtoft 
Help Sessions: Wednesdays, 5:00-6:00 P.M. in N127.
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 1:00-2:00 P.M. and by appointment. My office is located in N216.

Teaching Assistant: 

Srinivas Kolluri kolluri@cis.ksu.edu  Homepage URL: www.cis.ksu.edu/~kolluri
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00-12:00 A.M. and by appointment, at N019K.

 

Text: M. Huth and M. Ryan, Logic in Computer Science: Modelling and reasoning about systems. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521656028. This text is available in the KSU Union Bookstore. The book has a web page (including errata files) and is supported by a worldwide web tutor.

Course Home page: http://www.cis.ksu.edu/~tamtoft/CIS301/Fall02/index.html

Course objectives

We study the fundamentals of symbolic logic: how to write proofs and how to reason semantically. We use those acquired techniques for the design and verification of algorithms. We might further use them to check whether models of computer systems satisfy specified properties.

Prerequisites

CIS 200, and recursively, all prerequisites thereof. If you have not taken CIS 200, you must see the instructor; the College of Engineering may choose to drop you from this course without notice if you do not have that prerequisite.

Topics:

Propositional logic

Arguments and their validity. How to do rigorous proofs, that is, how to demonstrate that certain "inferences" are valid. We utilize a proof calculus and a semantics based on truth tables to address these issues.
(Chapter 1; 3-4 weeks.)

Predicate Logic

Database query languages often allow queries like "find all students who are sophomores and have tried out for the varsity rowing team" or "find someone who is a resident of Manhattan and is older than 30 and drives a Honda Accord, and likes Italian food"; such queries manipulate formulae written in predicate logic. Data abstraction mechanisms in programming languages (e.g., modules/packages) are often understood in terms of foundational concepts from predicate logic. We study the syntax and semantics of this logic and understand how to evaluate (i.e., give meanings to) formulas over their corresponding notion of models. We will also discuss its proof theory and prove important quantifier equivalences.
(Chapter 2; 3-4 weeks.)

Program Logic

Given a program P, what can we say about its input/output behavior (without having any run-time information about its variables)? We develop a proof calculus for verifying triples {phi}P{psi}, where phi and psi are statements about the store (e.g., describing the values of variables) before, respectively after, the execution of P. We treat a simple imperative language with if-statements and while-loops.
(Chapter 4; 4-5 weeks.)

Computation Tree Logic

Protocols, networks, and distributed systems in general cannot be described by code of some deterministic programming language. Such systems exhibit concurrent behavior and they are reactive in the sense that their behavior depends on what the environment can offer (e.g. "Is the printer busy?"). Computation Tree Logic is the framework currently used in verifying properties of concurrent systems. We will study its syntax and semantics, and use those insights to sketch an automated verification algorithm which takes a description of a system and a formula as input and checks whether that system enjoys that property.
(Chapter 3; rest of course, time permitting).

Grading and Exams

Homework: 25%

Homeworks will be pencil and paper exercises. Late assignments will not be accepted except for medical or family emergencies.

Exams: 75%

There will be three open-book exams, the first on Wednesday, October 16th, 2002. Each exam counts for 25% of the final grade. None of the exams will be comprehensive; they will cover only relevant parts of the syllabus.
To pass the course, a student must score at least 50% of all possible points in the course. Failure to achieve this will automatically result in an F.

General guidelines:

Please begin homework assignments ASAP. If you encounter any difficulties with the course material, please feel free to contact the TA or the instructor. You are welcome to discuss the course material with your fellow students. However, all submitted assignments must be your own work. From past experience, students who repeatedly miss classes have done poorly in exams. So do attend lectures regularly! It is your responsibility to obtain class notes in case you miss a lecture. It is your responsibility to collect graded homework assignments and exams. I will correspond with the class frequently by e-mail, so it is your responsibility to be up-to-date with current happenings in class.

Please note that this course is time consuming. Practicing all exercises in each chapter of the text, whether or not assigned as homework, will be critical to assuring a good performance in the exams. If you have many other commitments (e.g., work, heavy course load, busy social life, etc.) it may be advisable to take this course in another semester.

Policy statements

Dropping this course:

If you decide not to complete this course, it is your responsibility to drop---there are no ``automatic'' drops due to non-attendance.

University Honor System

Kansas State University has an Undergraduate Honor System based on personal integrity which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that in academic matters one's work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Undergraduate Honor System. The policies and procedures of the Undergraduate Honor System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate courses on-campus, off- campus, and via distance learning.

A prominent part of the Honor System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by undergraduate students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: "On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work."

A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. An XF would be failure of the course with the X on the transcript indicating failure as a result of a breach of academic honesty.

For more information, please visit the Honor System web page.

 

Rights, responsibilities and resources --- Sexual and Racial Harassment

One purpose of your education is to help you develop skills, approaches, and abilities that are necessary for effective teamwork, and for your success in your profession and as a citizen. The proper attitude might be summarized Do to others what you want others to do to you or Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you (food for thought: are those two statements equivalent?)

For particular examples of unwanted conduct, see the University's Sexual and Racial Harassment policies. If you experience any situations, in or out of class, that seem inappropriate or that make you uncomfortable, a list of resources and courses of action to assist you can be found here.

 

Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

If you have any condition, such as a physical or learning disability, which will make it difficult for you to carry out the work as the instructor has outlined it or which will require academic accommodations, please notify the instructor in the first two weeks of the course.

 

Acknowledgment and notice of copyright for course syllabus and lectures

This syllabus and course is (heavily) adapted from the one taught by Michael Huth and later modified by Anindya Banerjee. Please see the Copyright notice in the first document. Beyond this, all lectures in the course are Copyright 2001, 2002 (Anindya Banerjee & Torben Amtoft). During this course students are prohibited from selling notes to or being paid for taking notes by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of the professor teaching this course.

 

Torben Amtoft