Richard C. Waters
Abstract
The benefits of programming in a functional style are well known. Algorithms that are expressed as compositions of functions operating on series/vectors/streams of data elements are much easier to understand and modify than equivalent algorithms expressed as loops. Unfortunately, many programmers hesitate to use series expressions. In part, this is due to the fact that series expressions are typically implemented very inefficiently.A portable Common Lisp macro package (called Series) has been implemented that can evaluate a wide class of series expressions very efficiently by transforming them into iterative loops. When using this class of series expressions, programmers can obtain the advantages of expressing computations as series expressions without incurring any runtime overhead.
- [1] A. Aho, J. Hopcraft, and J. Ullman, The Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms, Addison-Wesley, Reading MA, 1974. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- [2] J. Orwant, Support of Obviously Synchronizable Series Expressions in Pascal, MIT/AI/WP-312, September 1988.Google Scholar
- [3] J. Waters, "A Method for Analyzing Loop Programs", IEEE Trans. on Software Engineering, 5(3):237-247, May 1979.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [4] R. Waters, "Using Obviously Synchronizable Series Expressions Instead of Loops" Proc. 1988 International Conference on Computer Languages, 338-346, Miami FL, IEEE Computer Society press, October 1988.Google Scholar
- [5] R. Waters, Optimization of Series Expressions: Part I: User's Manual for the Series Macro Package, MIT/AIM-1083, January 1989.Google Scholar
- [6] R. Waters, Optimization of Series Expressions: Part II: Overview of the Theory and Implementation, MIT/AIM-1083, January 1989. Google ScholarDigital Library
Index Terms
- The Series macro package
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