GMeta: A generic formal metatheory framework for first-order representations

Abstract

This paper presents GMeta: a generic framework for first-order representations of variable binding that provides once and for all many of the so-called infrastructure lemmas and definitions required in mechanizations of formal metatheory. The key idea is to employ datatype-generic programming (DGP) and modular programming techniques to deal with the infrastructure overhead. Using a generic universe for representing a large family of object languages we define datatype-generic libraries of infrastructure for first-order representations such as locally nameless or de Bruijn indices. Modules are used to provide templates: a convenient interface between the datatype-generic libraries and the end-users of GMeta. We conducted case studies based on the POPLmark challenge, and showed that dealing with challenging binding constructs, like the ones found in System F