Generic programming

Website:website containing additional information
Course code:INFOGP
Credits:7.5 ECTS
Period:periode 4 (week 17 t/m 27, dwz 21-4-2008 t/m 4-7-2008; herkansing week 35)
Timeslot:D
Participants:up till now 21 subscriptions
Schedule:Dit is een oud rooster!
formgrouptimeweekroomteacher
college   wo 15-1717,19-21,23-26 BBL-420 Johan Jeuring
  
vr 13-1517,19-20,23-26 BBL-420
Contents:Software usually works with structured information; think of Web-browsers and HTML-documents. This structure can be represented by a data type, a DTD (Document Type Definition), or a model. If such a type changes, all programs that work on that type have to be changed too, although often the central problem does not change.

In the course on generic programming we will discuss methods with which problems can be formulated and solved for arbitrary data types, DTDs, or models. In a sense, this is a course on model-driven development, but the model is a type. The result is a generic program. An example of a generic program is a program for developing web shops: given the structure of the product you want to sell, you want to generate web forms, and database transactions based on this structure. By specialising to a given type we get a normal, type-specific program. Many design patterns are also instances of generic programs. In contrast with MDD methods, or design patterns, the focus of this course is on types, which gives many possibilities for constructing correct and abstract code, based on sound theories.

In the course we will discuss generic programming by means of a number of example problems. You will also see some basic lambda calculus, which can be used to type-check and specialize generic programs. We will use both a couple of generic programming libraries for Haskell and the programming language Generic Haskell, an extension of Haskell that supports generic programming.

Literature:The literature consists of Andres Löh's PhD thesis, and a number of articles that will be distributed during the course.
Course form:In the first part of the course you will learn how to write generic programs in Generic Haskell and a couple of generic programming libraries for Haskell. After the introductory lectures, you will take an existing application, and turn it into a generic application. We will take some real-life projects from hackage, analyse them, and (partly) turn them into generic programs.

You will be divided into small groups. Each group selects a particular package to turn into a generic program. You will have regular project meetings with the teacher or other assistants.

Exam form:During the course we will hand out two sets of exercises, which you have to solve individually (E1, E2, EF=(E1+E2)/2). Furthermore, you will receive a grade for the project that will have to be presented and handed in (P). Finally, there will be an exam at the end of the course (E). Your final grade will be if EF>=5 and P>=5 and E>=5 then (EF+P+E)/3 else min (EF,P,E). If any of the subgrades is missing you will not receive a final grade.
Minimum effort to qualify for 2nd chance exam:You can only take an extra exam if your grade is at least 4.
Description:We will discuss the following topics. Minor changes might be made before the course starts.
  • A polymorphic lambda calculus
  • Type-indexed functions
  • Kind-indexed types
  • Dependencies between type-indexed functions
  • Libraries for generic programming
  • Applications of generic programming: XML tools, Model-driven development, Exercise assistants...
  • Specialization
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