Visualizing miniKanren Search with a Fine-Grained Small-Step Semantics

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Pfingsten, Brysen, Hemann, Jason
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Pfingsten, Brysen
Hemann, Jason
author_facet Pfingsten, Brysen
Hemann, Jason
contents We present a deterministic small-step operational semantics for miniKanren that explicitly represents the evolving search tree during execution. This semantics models interleaving and goal scheduling at fine granularity, allowing each evaluation step-goal activation, suspension, resumption, and success -- to be visualized precisely. Building on this model, we implement an interactive visualizer that renders the search tree as it develops and lets users step through execution. The tool acts as a pedagogical notional machine for reasoning about miniKanren's fair search behavior, helping users understand surprising answer orders and operational effects. Our semantics and tool are validated through property-based testing and illustrated with several examples.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_15178
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Visualizing miniKanren Search with a Fine-Grained Small-Step Semantics
Pfingsten, Brysen
Hemann, Jason
Programming Languages
We present a deterministic small-step operational semantics for miniKanren that explicitly represents the evolving search tree during execution. This semantics models interleaving and goal scheduling at fine granularity, allowing each evaluation step-goal activation, suspension, resumption, and success -- to be visualized precisely. Building on this model, we implement an interactive visualizer that renders the search tree as it develops and lets users step through execution. The tool acts as a pedagogical notional machine for reasoning about miniKanren's fair search behavior, helping users understand surprising answer orders and operational effects. Our semantics and tool are validated through property-based testing and illustrated with several examples.
title Visualizing miniKanren Search with a Fine-Grained Small-Step Semantics
topic Programming Languages
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.15178