Correct by Construction Resource-based Process Composition

TL;DR

This paper presents a method for resource-based process composition using Classical Linear Logic, enabling correct, deadlock-free, and resource-aware workflows with automated inference algorithms within a formal proof environment.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of CLL for process composition, with algorithms for automated inference and integration into a formal proof assistant for practical workflow design.

Findings

Automated inference algorithms for process composition.

Guarantees of deadlock freedom and resource correctness.

Implementation within HOL Light and WorkflowFM for practical use.

Abstract

The need for rigorous process composition is encountered in many situations pertaining to the development and analysis of complex systems. We discuss the use of Classical Linear Logic (CLL) for correct-by-construction resource-based process composition. Abstract processes are specified as CLL sequents describing the types of input and output resources. The proofs-as-processes paradigm and its recent evolutions enable the composition of such processes via logical inference, with mathematical guarantees when it comes to concurrent execution, deadlock freedom, and systematic resource accounting. We introduce algorithms to automate the necessary inference steps for binary compositions of processes in parallel, conditionally, and in sequence. We combine decision procedures and heuristics to achieve intuitive and practically useful compositions in an applied setting. Our work is implemented within the formal setting of the HOL Light proof assistant and incorporated in the WorkflowFM prototype to facilitate diagrammatic, correct-by-construction process workflows.