Precise goal-independent abstract interpretation of constraint logic programs. (Q1395430)

As its title suggests, this paper present a goal-independent denotational semantics of a (large) class of constraint logic programs. The semantics is largely independent of the chosen abstract domain and selection function. An interesting discussion is provided as to the precision of abstract interpretation framework presented in the paper, where it is proved that the given framework is maximally precise. The paper also includes a nice Related Work section. I have a good knowledge about logic programming but (before reading this paper) I were just generally acquainted with the issue of abstract interpretation. The general impression I got is that the paper, despite the technical difficulties undoubtedly related to the issue of abstract interpretation of logic programs, can be read quite easily by anyone having a general knowledge about logic programming. And indeed concepts are presented at the right place, introducing all needed premises and explaining the role each concept will play in the sequel. I think that, from the theoretical standpoint, this is a good piece of work and I really enjoyed reading it. An interesting question is then how much useful appears to be the paper to other people working in the field. Well, my opinion is that this paper represents a clear step forward and any researcher working on abstract interpretation of logic programs should find this material quite interesting. On the other hand, it is not clear how much practical impact a paper like this will steadily produce. In the Introduction, the author tries to put into evidence the practical implication of this work. But, in my opinion, he fails to be fully convincing. And probably only time will tell if abstract interpretation - based approaches to logic programs management will really have significance from the applicative standpoint.