Refactoring is modifying a program without changing its external behavior. In this paper, we make the concept of external behavior precise for a simple answer set programming language. Then we describe a proof assistant for the task of verifying that refactoring a program in that language is performed correctly.

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Theory and Practice of Logic Programming (2023).

@article{fan23, title={External Behavior of a Logic Program and Verification of Refactoring}, author={Jorge Fandinno and Zachary Hansen and Yuliya Lierler and Vladimir Lifschitz and Nathan Temple}, journal={Theory and Practice of Logic Programming}, month={ }, url="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/ai-labpub-view.php?PubID=127994", year={2023} }