Refinement Algebra for Formal Bytecode Generation

In this paper we propose an strategy for the design of compilers correct by construction for object-oriented languages. The process is formalized within a single and uniform semantic framework of an object-oriented language based on a subset of sequential Java and its algebraic laws. The strategy is to reduce an arbitrary source program to a particular normal form which describes the behavior of the target machine. This behavior is defined by an interpreter written in the same language. From the interpreter we can capture the sequence of generated bytecodes of the target machine. The normal form reduction is formalized as algebraic transformations where the central notion is refinement of programs.