Relational algebraic ornaments

Abstract

Dependently typed programming is hard, because ideally dependently typed programs should share structure with their correctness proofs, but there are very few guidelines on how one can arrive at such integrated programs. McBride's algebraic ornamentation provides a methodological advancement, by which the programmer can derive a datatype from a specification involving a fold, such that a program that constructs elements of that datatype would be correct by construction. It is thus an effective method that leads the programmer from a specification to a dependently typed program. We enhance the applicability of this method by generalising algebraic ornamentation to a relational setting and bringing in relational algebraic methods, resulting in a hybrid approach that makes essential use of both dependently typed programming and relational program derivation. A dependently typed solution to the minimum coin change problem is presented as a demonstration of this hybrid approach. We also give a theoretically interesting "completeness theorem" of relational algebraic ornaments, which sheds some light on the expressive power of ornaments and inductive families.