CakeML/cakeml

Formalise DEFLATE and add implementation to examples

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#806 opened on Nov 16, 2020

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 (7 comments) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)Standard ML (98 forks)auto 404
enhancementgood first issuemedium effort

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Description

Deflate is a lossless data compression file format that zip and gzip are based on.

The deflate algorithm would be a nice formalisation and verification exercise in HOL. The result of the formalisation effort could be used to construct a verified gzip-like executable using CakeML.

The same compression and decompression algorithm might come in handy inside the CakeML compiler, once the compiler stores bulky constant data structures as read-only data. Such bulky constants could, for example, be the AST for the basis library or the bignum library.

This project is likely to fit the scope of an internship or MSc thesis.

Contributor guide

Research direction
Study the DEFLATE RFC and existing formalizations in HOL. Examine the CakeML compiler's handling of constants to understand potential integration points.
Tech stack
None
Domain
compilersbackenddata
Issue type
Feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
Over 1 week
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Needs investigation
Prerequisites
HOLFormal verificationDEFLATE algorithm
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
20