The Pizza Compiler:ExtendingJavaInAFunctionalWay
Stc
Date: 2006-10-19
Time: 11:45
Room: BBL room 471
Speaker: Sander Mak
Title: The Pizza Compiler: extending Java in a functional way
Abstract
The Pizza Compiler was a research project of Philip Wadler et al., which
aimed at extending the object-oriented language Java with features from
functional programming languages. Though the project is not maintained
anymore, it still harbors some good and interesting ideas. Its language
design is worthwhile looking into: you will even recognize a fresh
feature of Java 1.5 in this project, which was conceived in 1996!
Pizza adds higher-order functions and algebraic datatypes to the Java
language. We will examine how the compiler implements these features,
while maintaining a high level of compatibility with 'plain' Java. Of
course it is not all gold that glitters, so we will look into some of
the 'rough edges' as well. If you are interested in both functional and
OO programming languages and their design, and want to see a compelling
example of research that hit the mainstream, then this talk is for you!
