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Dependently-typed data plane programming

Authors:

Matthias Eichholz,

Eric Hayden Campbell,

Matthias Krebs,

Mira MeziniAuthors Info & Claims

Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages, Volume 6, Issue POPL

Article No.: 40, Pages 1 - 28

https://doi.org/10.1145/3498701

Published: 12 January 2022 Publication History

Abstract

Programming languages like P4 enable specifying the behavior of network data planes in software. However, with increasingly powerful and complex applications running in the network, the risk of faults also increases. Hence, there is growing recognition of the need for methods and tools to statically verify the correctness of P4 code, especially as the language lacks basic safety guarantees. Type systems are a lightweight and compositional way to establish program properties, but there is a significant gap between the kinds of properties that can be proved using simple type systems (e.g., SafeP4) and those that can be obtained using full-blown verification tools (e.g., p4v). In this paper, we close this gap by developing Π4, a dependently-typed version of P4 based on decidable refinements. We motivate the design of Π4, prove the soundness of its type system, develop an SMT-based implementation, and present case studies that illustrate its applicability to a variety of data plane programs.

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Cited By

Campbell EHojjat HFoster N(2024)Computing Precise Control Interface SpecificationsProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36897438:OOPSLA2(905-934)Online publication date: 8-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3689743
Chen Jde Mendonça JAyele BBekele BJalili SSharma PWohlfeil NZhang YJeannin J(2024)Synchronous Programming with Refinement TypesProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36746578:ICFP(938-972)Online publication date: 15-Aug-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3674657
Alshnakat ALundberg DGuanciale RDam M(2024)HOL4P4: Mechanized Small-Step Semantics for P4Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36498198:OOPSLA1(223-249)Online publication date: 29-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3649819
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Dependently-typed data plane programming
1. Networks
  1. Network architectures
    1. Programming interfaces
2. Software and its engineering
  1. Software notations and tools
    1. Formal language definitions

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cover image Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages

Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages Volume 6, Issue POPL

January 2022

1886 pages

EISSN:2475-1421

DOI:10.1145/3511309

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Copyright © 2022 Owner/Author.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License.

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 12 January 2022

Published in PACMPL Volume 6, Issue POPL

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Cited By

Campbell EHojjat HFoster N(2024)Computing Precise Control Interface SpecificationsProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36897438:OOPSLA2(905-934)Online publication date: 8-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3689743
Chen Jde Mendonça JAyele BBekele BJalili SSharma PWohlfeil NZhang YJeannin J(2024)Synchronous Programming with Refinement TypesProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36746578:ICFP(938-972)Online publication date: 15-Aug-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3674657
Alshnakat ALundberg DGuanciale RDam M(2024)HOL4P4: Mechanized Small-Step Semantics for P4Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36498198:OOPSLA1(223-249)Online publication date: 29-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3649819
Larsen JGuanciale RHaller PScalas A(2023)P4R-Type: A Verified API for P4 Control Plane ProgramsProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36228667:OOPSLA2(1935-1963)Online publication date: 16-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3622866
Mehta VLoehr DSonchack JWalker D(2023)SwitchLog: A Logic Programming Language for Network SwitchesPractical Aspects of Declarative Languages10.1007/978-3-031-24841-2_12(180-196)Online publication date: 16-Jan-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-031-24841-2_12

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