Compiling Quantitative Type Theory to Michelson for Compile-Time Verification and Run-time Efficiency in Juvix

Abstract

Michelson, the stack-based virtual machine of the Tezos blockchain, integrates type-checking for program execution completion but not program correctness. Manual stack tracking is efficient but less ergonomic to write in than a higher-level lambda calculus with variables. Compiling McBride’s Quantitative Type Theory to Michelson allows for compile-time verification of semantic predicates and automatic stack optimisation by virtue of the type-theoretic usage accounting system.