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Information and Computation
Volume 186, Issue 2, 1 November 2003, Pages 319-354
Theoretical Aspects of Computer Software (TACS 2001)
 
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doi:10.1016/S0890-5401(03)00140-8    How to Cite or Link Using DOI (Opens New Window)
Copyright © 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Non-structural subtype entailment in automata theory

Joachim NiehrenCorresponding Author Contact Information, E-mail The Corresponding Author and Tim PriesnitzE-mail The Corresponding Author

Programming Systems Laboratory, Department of Computer Science, Universität des Saarlandes,Office 525, Building 45, Postfach 15 11 50, Saarbrücken DE-66041, Germany

Received 14 March 2002; 
revised 18 November 2002. 
Available online 19 July 2003.

Abstract

Decidability of non-structural subtype entailment is a long-standing open problem in programming language theory. In this paper, we apply automata theoretic methods to characterize the problem equivalently by using regular expressions and word equations. This characterization induces new results on non-structural subtype entailment, constitutes a promising starting point for further investigations on decidability, and explains for the first time why the problem is so difficult. The difficulty is caused by implicit word equations that we make explicit.

Author Keywords: Programming languages; Subtyping; Finite automata; Word equations

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Corresponding Author Contact InformationCorresponding author. Fax: +49-681-302-5615


Information and Computation
Volume 186, Issue 2, 1 November 2003, Pages 319-354
Theoretical Aspects of Computer Software (TACS 2001)
 
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