---
title: "Debugging Functional Programs"
authors:
  - "Markus Stumptner"
  - "Franz Wotawa"
doi: ""
url: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1999/153"
pdf: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1999/0153.pdf"
venue: "Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence"
year: 1999
pages: "1074-1078"
track: "Qualitative Reasoning and Diagnosis"
keywords:
---

# Debugging Functional Programs

Markus Stumptner, Franz Wotawa

*Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence*, pages 1074-1078.

## Abstract

In this paper, we use a logic-based system description for a simple (non-logic) functional language to examine the ways in which a diagnosis system can use its system description to improve debugging performance. The key concept is that the notion of expression replacement, which is the basis for repairing a program, can also serve as a fundamental heuristic for searching the source of an error. We formally define replacements in terms of fault modes, explicitly define a replacement order, and use the replacement heuristic for finding diagnoses. Finally, we incorporate the use of multiple test cases and discuss their use in discriminating between diagnoses.