Faster checking of software specifications by eliminating isomorphs

Abstract

Both software specifications and their intended properties can be expressed in a simple relational language. The claim that a specification satisfies a property becomes a relational formula that can be checked automatically by enumerating the formula's interpretations. Because the number of interpretations is usually huge, this approach has not been thought to be practical. But by eliminating isomorphic interpretations, the enumeration can be reduced substantially, with a factor of roughly k! contributed by each type of k elements.