Algebraic Pattern Matching in Join Calculus

TL;DR

This paper introduces an extension to the join calculus that incorporates algebraic pattern matching, providing a clearer semantics for concurrent interactions and a practical compilation method, implemented in JoCaml.

Contribution

It presents a novel extension of the join calculus with algebraic pattern matching and a compilation scheme, along with a formal theory and implementation in JoCaml.

Findings

Developed a theory of the applied join calculus with value passing and matching.

Designed a compilation scheme from extended join definitions to standard join calculus plus ML patterns.

Implemented the extended calculus in the JoCaml system.

Abstract

We propose an extension of the join calculus with pattern matching on algebraic data types. Our initial motivation is twofold: to provide an intuitive semantics of the interaction between concurrency and pattern matching; to define a practical compilation scheme from extended join definitions into ordinary ones plus ML pattern matching. To assess the correctness of our compilation scheme, we develop a theory of the applied join calculus, a calculus with value passing and value matching. We implement this calculus as an extension of the current JoCaml system.