Computational theorem proving is so useful, effective, and important that its advocates present it in economic terms: about preventing costly errors in software and protocols. What gets lost is just how much fun it can be. Friedman and Eastlund, two jolly characters, eschew talk of bugs and bombs, and strip it to its essence as only a Little book can. Want proof? Look inside!
Shriram Krishnamurthi, Professor of Computer Science, Brown University
What can you learn about a program without actually running it? What can you know by reading the code? In the grand tradition of The Little LISPer and The Little Schemer, Dan Friedman and Carl Eastlund elegantly present small programs that contain big ideas, but now also show how to prove claims about their behavior. The question-and-answer format makes it surprisingly easy to learn and master inductive proof techniques—it's like eating peanuts! Don't overlook the concise and elegant code for the J-Bob proof assistant itself, tucked in the back. The Little Prover is a marvelous introduction to the program proof techniques used in such tools as ACL2, Isabelle, and Coq.
Guy L. Steele Jr., Software Architect, Oracle Labs, coinventor of the Scheme language, and coauthor of Common LISP: The Language
Friedman and Eastlund's The Little Prover is a gentle introduction to the nuts and bolts of formal proofs about programs. Following on from The Little Schemer, it is an excellent guide for both thoughtful functional programmers wondering what it really means to know that a program is correct and do-it-yourselfers who want a taste of how proof assistants like ACL2 do their work. Bring your sense of humor and your thinking cap!
Benjamin C. Pierce, Henry Salvatori Professor of Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania
