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On Modular Termination Proofs of General Logic Programs

Logic in Computer Science 2025-06-18 v2 Programming Languages

Abstract

We propose a modular method for proving termination of general logic programs (i.e., logic programs with negation). It is based on the notion of acceptable programs, but it allows us to prove termination in a truly modular way. We consider programs consisting of a hierarchy of modules and supply a general result for proving termination by dealing with each module separately. For programs which are in a certain sense well-behaved, namely well-moded or well-typed programs, we derive both a simple verification technique and an iterative proof method. Some examples show how our system allows for greatly simplified proofs.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.cs/0005018,
  title  = {On Modular Termination Proofs of General Logic Programs},
  author = {Annalisa Bossi and Nicoletta Cocco and Sandro Etalle and Sabina Rossi},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cs/0005018},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

29 pages. To appear in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming