Proving as Programming with DrHOL: A Preliminary Design

We discuss the design of a new implementation of the HOL system aimed at improved graphical user interface support for formal proof. We call our approach Proving as Programming, since we believe that metalanguage programming is a central aspect of proof construction. Thus we look to contemporary programming environments for inspiration on how to provide graphical support for proof. In particular, our implementation builds upon DrScheme, a popular programming environment for Scheme. 1 Proving as Programming We have begun work on DrHOL, a new implementation of the HOL logic. DrHOL is systematically derived from HOL-4 [8] and aims at improving user interfaces in many aspects of work in HOL: development of proof procedures, construction of terms and definitions, interactive proof, and embedding of object languages are seen as candidates for better interface support. We believe that programmability is an essential part of all these activities.