Parameter-passing and the lambda calculus
| dc.contributor.advisor | Felleisen, Matthias | |
| dc.creator | Crank, Erik T. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2009-06-04T00:34:42Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2009-06-04T00:34:42Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 1991 | |
| dc.description.abstract | The choice of a parameter-passing technique is an important decision in the design of a high-level programming language. To clarify some of the semantic aspects of the decision, we develop, analyze, and compare modifications of the $\lambda$-calculus for the most common parameter-passing techniques. More specifically, for each parameter-passing technique we provide (1) a program rewriting semantics for a language with side-effects and first-class procedures based on the respective parameter-passing technique; (2) an equational theory derived from the rewriting semantics; (3) a formal analysis of the correspondence between the calculus and the semantics; and (4) a strong normalization theorem for the largest possible imperative fragment of the theory. A comparison of the various systems reveals that Algol's call-by-name indeed satisfies the well-known $\beta$ rule of the original $\lambda$-calculus, but at the cost of complicated axioms for the imperative part of the theory. The simplest and most appealing axiom system appears to be the one for a call-by-value language with reference cells as first-class values. | |
| dc.format.extent | 77 p. | en_US |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.callno | Thesis Comp.Sci. 1991 Crank | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Crank, Erik T.. "Parameter-passing and the lambda calculus." (1991) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/13521">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/13521</a>. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1911/13521 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.rights | Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder. | |
| dc.subject | Computer science | |
| dc.title | Parameter-passing and the lambda calculus | |
| dc.type | Thesis | |
| dc.type.material | Text | |
| thesis.degree.department | Computer Science | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Engineering | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | Rice University | |
| thesis.degree.level | Masters | |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Science |
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