Verified Compilation and the B Method: A Proposal and a First Appraisal

AbstractThis paper investigates the application of the B method beyond the classical algorithmic level provided by the B0 sub-language, and presents refinements of B models at a level of precision equivalent to assembly language. We claim and justify that this extension provides a more reliable software development process as it bypasses two of the less trustable steps in the application of the B method: code synthesis and compilation. The results presented in the paper have a value as a proof of concept and may be used as a basis to establish an agenda for the development of an approach to build verifying compilers [Hoare, C. A. R., The verifying compiler, a grand challenge for computing research, in: VMCAI, 2005, pp. 78–78] based on the B method