"Explosive" Programming Controlled by Calculation
[ DI/UM ]

by J.N. Oliveira (presented at AFP'98 - 3rd Summer School on Advanced Functional Programming, Braga, Portugal, 12-18 Sept. 1998) Paper: [available as a 188K pdf file]. Slides: [available as a 136K ps.gz file]

Abstract: In the design of a functional library in the area of data-mining several algorithmic patterns have been identified which call for generic programming. Some of these have to do with flattening functions which arise in a particular group of hierarchical systems.

In this paper we describe our efforts to make such functionalities generic. We start by a generic inductive construction of the intended class of hierarchical types. We conclude by relating the structure of the relevant base-functors with the algebraic structure which is required by the generic flattening functionality, in particular concerning its «deforestation» towards a linearly complex implementation.

The instances we provide as examples include the widely known bill of materials «explode» operation.

BibTeX:

@techreport{Ol98c,
  author = {J. N. Oliveira},
  title = {`{E}xplosive' Programming Controlled by Calculation},
  number = {UMDITR02/98},
  institution = {DI, University of Minho},
  month = {September},
  year = {1998},
  note = { Presented at AFP'98 
           (3rd Intern. Summer School on Advanced Functional Programming),
           Braga, Portugal.}
}