1,801 research outputs found
The Sketch of a Polymorphic Symphony
In previous work, we have introduced functional strategies, that is,
first-class generic functions that can traverse into terms of any type while
mixing uniform and type-specific behaviour. In the present paper, we give a
detailed description of one particular Haskell-based model of functional
strategies. This model is characterised as follows. Firstly, we employ
first-class polymorphism as a form of second-order polymorphism as for the mere
types of functional strategies. Secondly, we use an encoding scheme of run-time
type case for mixing uniform and type-specific behaviour. Thirdly, we base all
traversal on a fundamental combinator for folding over constructor
applications.
Using this model, we capture common strategic traversal schemes in a highly
parameterised style. We study two original forms of parameterisation. Firstly,
we design parameters for the specific control-flow, data-flow and traversal
characteristics of more concrete traversal schemes. Secondly, we use
overloading to postpone commitment to a specific type scheme of traversal. The
resulting portfolio of traversal schemes can be regarded as a challenging
benchmark for setups for typed generic programming.
The way we develop the model and the suite of traversal schemes, it becomes
clear that parameterised + typed strategic programming is best viewed as a
potent combination of certain bits of parametric, intensional, polytypic, and
ad-hoc polymorphism
From ACT-ONE to Miranda, a Translation Experiment
It is now almost universally acknowledged that the data language ACT-ONE associated with the formal description technique LOTOS is inappropriate for the purpose of OSI formal description. In response to this the LOTOS restandardisation activity plans to replace ACT-ONE with a functional language. Thus, compatibility between ACT-ONE and the replacement data language becomes an issue. In response to this, we present an experimental investigation of backward compatibility between ACT-ONE and the new LOTOS data language. Specifically, we investigate translating ACT-ONE data types into the functional language Miranda. Miranda has been chosen as it is a widely used functional programming language and it is close in form to the anticipated new data language. This work serves as a ``verification of concept'' for translating ACT-ONE to the E-LOTOS data language. It identifies the bounds on embedding ACT-ONE in a functional data language. In particular, it indicates what can be translated and what cannot be translated. In addition, the paper reveals pertinent issues which can inform the E-LOTOS work. For example, which constructs are needed in E-LOTOS in order to support the class of data type specifications typically made in the LOTOS setting? We conclude with a number of specific recommendations for the E-LOTOS data language
The C++0x "Concepts" Effort
C++0x is the working title for the revision of the ISO standard of the C++
programming language that was originally planned for release in 2009 but that
was delayed to 2011. The largest language extension in C++0x was "concepts",
that is, a collection of features for constraining template parameters. In
September of 2008, the C++ standards committee voted the concepts extension
into C++0x, but then in July of 2009, the committee voted the concepts
extension back out of C++0x.
This article is my account of the technical challenges and debates within the
"concepts" effort in the years 2003 to 2009. To provide some background, the
article also describes the design space for constrained parametric
polymorphism, or what is colloquially know as constrained generics. While this
article is meant to be generally accessible, the writing is aimed toward
readers with background in functional programming and programming language
theory. This article grew out of a lecture at the Spring School on Generic and
Indexed Programming at the University of Oxford, March 2010
Trust, but Verify: Two-Phase Typing for Dynamic Languages
A key challenge when statically typing so-called dynamic languages is the
ubiquity of value-based overloading, where a given function can dynamically
reflect upon and behave according to the types of its arguments. Thus, to
establish basic types, the analysis must reason precisely about values, but in
the presence of higher-order functions and polymorphism, this reasoning itself
can require basic types. In this paper we address this chicken-and-egg problem
by introducing the framework of two-phased typing. The first "trust" phase
performs classical, i.e. flow-, path- and value-insensitive type checking to
assign basic types to various program expressions. When the check inevitably
runs into "errors" due to value-insensitivity, it wraps problematic expressions
with DEAD-casts, which explicate the trust obligations that must be discharged
by the second phase. The second phase uses refinement typing, a flow- and
path-sensitive analysis, that decorates the first phase's types with logical
predicates to track value relationships and thereby verify the casts and
establish other correctness properties for dynamically typed languages
Strategic polymorphism requires just two combinators!
In previous work, we introduced the notion of functional strategies:
first-class generic functions that can traverse terms of any type while mixing
uniform and type-specific behaviour. Functional strategies transpose the notion
of term rewriting strategies (with coverage of traversal) to the functional
programming paradigm. Meanwhile, a number of Haskell-based models and
combinator suites were proposed to support generic programming with functional
strategies.
In the present paper, we provide a compact and matured reconstruction of
functional strategies. We capture strategic polymorphism by just two primitive
combinators. This is done without commitment to a specific functional language.
We analyse the design space for implementational models of functional
strategies. For completeness, we also provide an operational reference model
for implementing functional strategies (in Haskell). We demonstrate the
generality of our approach by reconstructing representative fragments of the
Strafunski library for functional strategies.Comment: A preliminary version of this paper was presented at IFL 2002, and
included in the informal preproceedings of the worksho
Automating embedded analysis capabilities and managing software complexity in multiphysics simulation part I: template-based generic programming
An approach for incorporating embedded simulation and analysis capabilities
in complex simulation codes through template-based generic programming is
presented. This approach relies on templating and operator overloading within
the C++ language to transform a given calculation into one that can compute a
variety of additional quantities that are necessary for many state-of-the-art
simulation and analysis algorithms. An approach for incorporating these ideas
into complex simulation codes through general graph-based assembly is also
presented. These ideas have been implemented within a set of packages in the
Trilinos framework and are demonstrated on a simple problem from chemical
engineering
Higher-order + Polymorphic = Reusable
This paper explores how certain ideas in object oriented languages have their correspondents in functional languages. In particular we look at the analogue of the iterators of the C++ standard template library. We also give an example of the use of constructor classes which feature in Haskell 1.3 and Gofer
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