Topic
Formal language
About: Formal language is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5763 publications have been published within this topic receiving 154114 citations.
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TL;DR: This paper provides a direct formalization of the execution semantics of the OMG standard BPMN 2.0 in terms of Labeled Transition Systems to avoid possible miss-interpretations, and to overcome issues due to the mapping of the standard specification to other formal languages, which are equipped with their own semantics.
39 citations
Proceedings Article•
12 Jun 2016TL;DR: This paper investigates STRIPS with and without conditional effects; though it also tighten some existing results on hierarchical formalisms, and discusses the language-based expressivity measure with respect to the other approaches.
Abstract: From a theoretical perspective, judging the expressivity of planning formalisms helps to understand the relationship of different representations and to infer theoretical properties. From a practical point of view, it is important to be able to choose the best formalism for a problem at hand, or to ponder the consequences of introducing new representation features. Most work on the expressivity is based either on compilation approaches, or on the computational complexity of the plan existence problem. Recently, we introduced a new notion of expressivity. It is based on comparing the structural complexity of the set of solutions to a planning problem by interpreting the set as a formal language and classifying it with respect to the Chomsky hierarchy. This is a more direct measure than the plan existence problem and enables also the comparison of formalisms that can not be compiled into each other. While existing work on that last approach focused on different hierarchical problem classes, this paper investigates STRIPS with and without conditional effects; though we also tighten some existing results on hierarchical formalisms. Our second contribution is a discussion on the language-based expressivity measure with respect to the other approaches.
39 citations
01 Jun 2000
TL;DR: A deeper and more cognitively informed consideration of diagrams is taken, which leads to a more natural formal underpinning that permits the formal justification of informal intuitive arguments, without placing the onus of formality upon the engineer constructing the argument.
Abstract: Diagrammatic specification, modelling and programming languages are increasingly prevalent in software engineering and, it is often claimed, provide natural representations which permit of intuitive reasoning. A desirable goal of software engineering is the rigorous justification of such reasoning, yet many formal accounts of diagrammatic languages confuse or destroy any natural reading of the diagrams. Hence they cannot be said to be intuitive. The answer, we feel, is to examine seriously the meaning and accuracy of the terms “natural” and “intuitive” in this context. This paper highlights, and illustrates by means of examples taken from industrial practice, an ongoing research theme of the authors. We take a deeper and more cognitively informed consideration of diagrams which leads us to a more natural formal underpinning that permits (i) the formal justification of informal intuitive arguments, without placing the onus of formality upon the engineer constructing the argument; and (ii) a principled approach to the identification of intuitive (and counter-intuitive) features of diagrammatic languages.
39 citations
01 Jan 1992
TL;DR: A linguistic model of tabla improvisation and evaluation derived from pattern languages and formal grammars has been implemented in the Bol Processor, a software system used in interactive fieldwork with expert musicians and demonstrated to handle complex structures by taking real examples from the repertoire.
Abstract: Improvisation in North Indian tabla drumming is similar to speech insofar as it is bound to an underlying system of rules determining correct sequences. The parallel is further reinforced by the fact that tabla music may be represented with an oral notation system used for its transmission and, occasionally, performance. Yet the rules are implicit and available only through the musicians' ability to play correct sequences and recognise incorrect ones. A linguistic model of tabla improvisation and evaluation derived from pattern languages and formal grammars has been implemented in the Bol Processor, a software system used in interactive fieldwork with expert musicians. The paper demonstrates the ability of the model to handle complex structures by taking real examples from the repertoire. It also questions the relevance of attempting to model irregularities encountered in actual performance.
39 citations
01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: The BLOG model as discussed by the authors is a formal language for defining probability models with unknown objects and identity uncertainty, and it can be used to describe a generative process in which some steps add objects to the world, and others determine attributes and relations on these objects.
Abstract: We introduce BLOG, a formal language for defining probability models with unknown objects and identity uncertainty. A BLOG model describes a generative process in which some steps add objects to the world, and others determine attributes and relations on these objects. Subject to certain acyclicity constraints, a BLOG model specifies a unique probability distribution over first-order model structures that can contain varying and unbounded numbers of objects. Furthermore, inference algorithms exist for a large class of BLOG models.
39 citations