The Little Prover

The Little Prover introduces inductive proofs as a way to determine facts about computer programs. It is written in an approachable, engaging style of question-and-answer, with the characteristic humor ofThe Little Schemer (fourth edition, MIT Press). Sometimes the best way to learn something is to sit down and do it; the book takes readers through step-by-step examples showing how to write inductive proofs.The Little Prover assumes only knowledge of recursive programs and lists (as presented in the first three chapters ofThe Little Schemer) and uses only a few terms beyond what novice programmers already know. The book comes with a simple proof assistant to help readers work through the book and complete solutions to every example.

Daniel P. Friedman is Professor of Computer Science at Indiana University and coauthor of The Little Schemer (fourth edition), The Reasoned Schemer, The Seasoned Schemer, and Essentials of Programming Languages (third edition), all published by the MIT Press. Carl Eastlund is a software engineer at Jane Street Capital in New York City.