1986 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
Parametric Specification
Authors : Ernest G. Manes, Michael A. Arbib
Published in: Algebraic Approaches to Program Semantics
Publisher: Springer New York
Included in: Professional Book Archive
Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.
Select sections of text to find matching patents with Artificial Intelligence. powered by
Select sections of text to find additional relevant content using AI-assisted search. powered by
In Section 2 we will define “lists of E” in terms of the least fixed point specification$$E*:: = 1 + E \times E*$$ (i.e., “a list is the empty list (1 = }Λ}) or an element of E followed by a list). But the parenthetical explication just given works only in Set, whereas the specification works in any category in which polynomial functors have least fixed points. In this sense E is a “parameter” for the “lists-of-” specifier. The specific parameter E may itself arise from another data type specification and may live in a category of arbitrary complexity subject to the technical needs of semantics.