Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Álvaro F. Silva

Publications and source records attributed to Álvaro F. Silva.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

ProofPulse: Interactive Proof Coverage Analysis for Dafny

Deductive verification ensures that an implementation satisfies its specification, but successful verification does not guarantee the quality of the specification. As such, weak specifications and redundant invariants may create overconfidence in ``verified'' code. We present \proofpulse, a tool for Dafny that diagnoses specification quality using a three-valued proof coverage model. By analyzing proof dependencies, ProofPulse distinguishes between elements that contribute to specification intent, those used only for auxiliary checks, and those irrelevant to any proof obligation. Evaluated against an oracle of 252 programs from the dafny-synthesis benchmark, ProofPulse provides a high-precision signal for specification weaknesses, particularly unnecessary preconditions and vacuous proofs. With unsat-core minimization, ProofPulse achieves perfect precision for precondition classification and reduces false positives across all evaluated categories. These results show that proof coverage is a practical complement to verification. Although it cannot fully capture semantic intent, it can reveal weak proof coupling in programs that otherwise appear fully verified. Just as a pulse check distinguishes vitality from the mere absence of symptoms, ProofPulse exposes weaknesses in proofs that technically verify successfully but still suffer from inadequate or redundant code and specifications.

cs.SE↗

DSpec2Test: Specification-Driven Test Generation in Dafny

Verification-aware languages, such as Dafny, integrate logical constructs into code and enable automatic verification of program correctness. However, tests remain helpful in scenarios that verification alone does not address (e.g., to support test-driven development). Existing Dafny test generation tools are implementation-based, limiting their applicability in this context. We present DSpec2Test, a specification-driven test generation tool for Dafny that automatically derives tests from formal specifications, without considering implementation details. Our tool extends Dafny's generate-tests command with a new blackbox mode based on Disjunctive Normal Form (DNF) equivalence class partitioning and optional Boundary Value Analysis (BVA). DSpec2Test relies on the Z3 SMT solver to synthesize inputs and expected outputs that meet the specification-derived constraints. We evaluate DSpec2Test on programs from DafnyBench mutated using MutDafny and compare it against Dafny's existing implementation-driven Block mode. DSpec2Test achieves a 93.9% mutation kill rate on a dataset of 131 mutants, outperforming Block's 82.4%, and uniquely killing 17 mutants. These results suggest that specification-driven testing is an effective and complementary approach for testing Dafny programs.

cs.SE↗