Dominique Duval
Graph rewriting


In the
double pushout approach for graph rewriting, a rewrite rule is a pair of graph homomorphisms of the form L<--K--> R. Usually K is a kind of intersection of the left handside L and the righthandside R, and the homomorphism from K to L is a monomorphism. On the contrary, we consider that K stands for a version of L where some vertices are disconnected, and the homomorphism from K to L is an epimorphism. This provides a framework for dealing with the problem of data-structure rewriting including pointer redirections [Duval-Echahed-Prost 2006].

In addition, the categorical
point of view can also be used for dealing with garbage collection. Indeed, garbage collection is easily defined as a right adjoint, that can be expressed as composed of a left adjoint and two "easy" right adjoints. These three adjoints cope well with the different phases of a traditional garbage collector. Since left adjoints preserve pushouts, this decomposition is compatible with the double pushout approach for graph rewriting [Duval-Echahed-Prost 2007]. See [Yegdjong08] for an implementation.

In [
Duval-Echahed-Prost 2009] we  propose a new framework for performing local and global redirection of pointers, addition and deletion of nodes as well as cloning and collapsing of substructures. For this purpose, we introduce a notion of heterogeneous pushout and define rewrite steps as heterogeneous pushouts in a given category. See [Mavillaz09] for an implementation.


[Mavillaz09] Daniel Mavillaz. Méthodes algébriques pour la transformation de graphes. Rapport de stage (Grenoble 2009).

[
Yegdjong08] Elias Yegdjong. Conception et réalisation d'une interface graphique pour la réécriture de l'état d'une mémoire d'ordinateur. Rapport de stage (Grenoble 2008). Présentation.
[Duval-Echahed-Prost 2009] Dominique Duval, Rachid Echahed, Frédéric Prost. A Heterogeneous Pushout Approach to Term-Graph Transformation. Proceedings of Rewriting Techniques and Application 2009 (RTA'09). Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science 5595 p. 194-208 (2009).
[Duval-Echahed-Prost 2007] Dominique Duval, Rachid Echahed, Frédéric Prost. Adjunction for Garbage Collection with Application to Graph Rewriting. Proceedings of Rewriting Techniques and Application 2007 (RTA'07). Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science 4533 p. 122-136 (2007).

[Duval-Echahed-Prost 2006] Dominique Duval, Rachid Echahed, Frédéric Prost. Modeling pointer redirection as cyclic term-graph rewriting. In Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Term Graph Rewriting (TERMGRAPH'06).
Electronic Notes in Computer Science 176 p. 65-84 (2007).