It's true that the document in GHC doesn't include operational semantics, but 
that's because GHC doesn't ever really implement a concrete operational 
semantics for Core, at least that I'm aware of. There are various places that a 
certain operational semantics is assumed. However, I don't think there's one 
place that really states the semantics in any concrete way. The goal of the 
document you attached is to have an easy-to-read and easy-to-maintain version 
of Core, with a direct connection to the implementation. With the operational 
semantics never stated, including those rules seemed to go against that goal.

That said, it wouldn't be hard for me to imagine an operational semantics and 
add it to the document -- I just don't know how I would check my imagined 
version against the implemented one.

Richard

On Apr 29, 2013, at 8:38 AM, Simon Peyton-Jones <[email protected]> wrote:

> Norman
> 
> |    - Is there anything published about the implementation of GHCi?
> |      Or perhaps something on the Developers' Wiki that explains how it 
> works?
> 
> If you mean the details of bytecode compilation and the bytecode interpreter, 
> I'm really not sure that there is.  That's bad; there should be. I'm ccing 
> Simon M in case he knows of something.
> 
> |    - What is the best paper (or papers) to consult on the semantics
> |      of GHC core?
> 
> Many of these papers
>       http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/simonpj/papers/ext-f/
> give syntax, static semantics, and operational semantics of Core. 
> 
> Moreover, Richard Eisenberg has developed a specification of the Real Core in 
> GHC, kept in the source tree in docs/core-spec
> 
> I enclose a typeset version.  
> 
> Sadly it doesn't include operational semantics, but I don't think that'd be 
> hard to add, would it Richard?  The papers on the above link give several 
> versions of the operational semantics, which is largely straightforward.
> 
> Simon
> <core-spec.pdf>


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