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A Debugger for Probabilistic Programs

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Software Engineering and Formal Methods (SEFM 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 13085))

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Abstract

We provide a prototype implementation of a recording-based debugger for imperative probabilistic programs supporting randomised choice, conditioning, and loops. In order to handle different branches of execution, we take a semantics-based approach that employs weakest preexpectations and that introduces iteration limits for approximating the behaviour of potentially non-terminating loops, while giving hard bounds on the corresponding value without loop iteration limits.

The work presented in this tool paper is based on the Master’s thesis by Alexander Hoppen [5].

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The same logic also applies to prob- and while-statements. For loops, the user can jump into the loop’s body or exit the loop.

  2. 2.

    Here, if-, prob and while-statements are viewed as single statements that include their bodies.

References

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  5. Hoppen, A.: Design and implementation of an interactive exploration tool for probabilistic programs. Master’s thesis, RWTH Aachen University, Germany (2020). https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/record/802809

  6. Hoppen, A., Noll, T.: A debugger for probabilistic programs. Technical report, RWTH Aachen University (2020). https://moves.rwth-aachen.de/wp-content/uploads/probabilistic-debugger-report.pdf

  7. Katoen, J.-P., Gretz, F., Jansen, N., Kaminski, B.L., Olmedo, F.: Understanding probabilistic programs. In: Meyer, R., Platzer, A., Wehrheim, H. (eds.) Correct System Design. LNCS, vol. 9360, pp. 15–32. Springer, Cham (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23506-6_4

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  10. Noll, T.: A debugger for probabilistic programs, October 2021. https://git.rwth-aachen.de/moves/probabilistic-debugger

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Software Modelling and Verification Group, RWTH Aachen University, 52056, Aachen, Germany

    Alexander Hoppen & Thomas Noll

Authors
  1. Alexander Hoppen
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  2. Thomas Noll
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Noll .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of York, York, UK

    Radu Calinescu

  2. Carnegie Mellon University, Moffett Field, CA, USA

    Corina S. Păsăreanu

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Hoppen, A., Noll, T. (2021). A Debugger for Probabilistic Programs. In: Calinescu, R., Păsăreanu, C.S. (eds) Software Engineering and Formal Methods. SEFM 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 13085. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92124-8_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92124-8_16

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-92123-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-92124-8

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