Programs and Datatypes

We are programmers, in the sense that it is our concern to improve the process of program construction. Therefore we want to answer questions like: What is programming, why is it so difficult and error-prone, and how can we learn what is needed to make the process more manageable? In the following we shall address these issues in a relational framework. Section 10.1 gives an introductory overview explaining the background to our approach. Section 10.2 shows how we deal with (recursive and non-recursive) datatypes in the relational framework. Section 10.3 discusses programs in this context, concentrating on a class of programs characterized by relational equations of a specific but quite general shape. Program termination is the subject of Section 10.4. Finally, Section 10.5 briefly touches on the design and execution of (terminating) programs. For a more extensive treatment see [Doornbos 1996].