Intensionality, Definability and Computation

Abstract: We look at intensionality from the perspective of computation. In particular, we review how game semantics has been used to characterize the sequential functional processes, leading to powerful and flexible methods for constructing fully abstract models of programming languages, with applications in program analysis and verification. In a broader context, we can regard game semantics as a first step towards developing a positive theory of intensional structures with a robust mathematical structure, and finding the right notions of invariance for these structures.