A tutorial on computational classical logic and the sequent calculus

Abstract

AbstractWe present a model of computation that heavily emphasizes the concept of duality and the interaction between opposites–production interacts with consumption. The symmetry of this framework naturally explains more complicated features of programming languages through relatively familiar concepts. For example, binding a value to a variable is dual to manipulating the flow of control in a program. By looking at the computational interpretation of the sequent calculus, we find a language that lets us speak about duality, control flow, and evaluation order in programs as first-class concepts.We begin by reviewing Gentzen's LK sequent calculus and show how the Curry–Howard isomorphism still applies to give us a different basis for expressing computation. We then illustrate how the fundamental dilemma of computation in the sequent calculus gives rise to a duality between evaluation strategies: strict languages are dual to lazy languages. Finally, we discuss how the concept of focusing, developed in the setting of proof search, is related to the idea of type safety for computation expressed in the sequent calculus. In this regard, we compare and contrast two different methods of focusing that have appeared in the literature, static and dynamic focusing, and illustrate how they are two means to the same end.