A comparative study of language support for generic programming

García, Ronald G.; Järvi, Jaakko; Lumsdaine, Andrew; Siek, Jeremy G.; Willcock, Jeremiah

doi:10.1145/949315.949317

Cited by 24 publications

(41 citation statements)

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“…(We discuss this in more detail in Section 3.6.1.) Concurrently with our work on F G , Chakravarty, Keller, and Peyton Jones responded to our comparative study [18,19] by developing an extension to Haskell to support associated types [26,27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…For G we placed separate compilation as a higher priority, leaving out template specialization and requiring programmers to work around the lack of full concept-based overloading (see Section 5.1.3). Table 1 shows the results of our comparative study of language support for generic programming [18,19] with new columns for C++0X and G and augmented with several new rows: modular type checking (previously part of ''separate compilation''), lexically scoped models, concept-based overloading, same-type constraints, and first-class functions. Table 2 gives a brief description of the evaluation criteria.…”

Section: First-class Functionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In previous work we performed a comparative study of language support for generic programming [18,19]. We evaluated several modern programming languages by implementing a subset of the Boost Graph Library (BGL) [14] in each language.…”

Section: Implementing the Boost Graph Library In Gmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2003 we performed a comparative study of modern language support for generic programming [18]. The initial study included C++, SML, Haskel, Eiffel, Java, and C#, and we evaluated the languages by porting a representative subset of the Boost Graph Library [14] to each of them.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A language for generic programming in the large

Siek

Lumsdaine

2011

Science of Computer Programming

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a b s t r a c tGeneric programming is an effective methodology for developing reusable software libraries. Many programming languages provide generics and have features for describing interfaces, but none completely support the idioms used in generic programming. To address this need we developed the language G. The central feature of G is the concept, a mechanism for organizing constraints on generics that is inspired by the needs of modern C++ libraries. G provides modular type checking and separate compilation (even of generics). These characteristics support modular software development, especially the smooth integration of independently developed components. In this article we present the rationale for the design of G and demonstrate the expressiveness of G with two case studies: porting the Standard Template Library and the Boost Graph Library from C++ to G. The design of G shares much in common with the concept extension proposed for the next C++ Standard (the authors participated in its design) but there are important differences described in this article.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: First-class Functionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implementing the Boost Graph Library In Gmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A language for generic programming in the large

Siek

Lumsdaine

2011

Science of Computer Programming

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“…Although C++ has proven successful for generic programming despite its lack of language support, we have also applied the generic programming approach to several object-oriented languages, including Generic Java, C#, and Eiffel, and have reported notable difficulties. (2) These languages use subtyping to constrain type parameters. Even though subtype-based constraints may not to be ideal for generic programming, most of the difficulties we encountered originate from how languages define subtyping, rather than being inherent to subtype-based constraints.…”

Section: Syntactic Conceptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Generic Programming and High-Performance Libraries

Gregor

Järvi

Kulkarni

et al. 2005

Int J Parallel Prog

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Generic programming is an especially attractive paradigm for developing libraries for high-performance computing because it simultaneously emphasizes generality and efficiency. In the generic programming approach, interfaces are based on sets of specified requirements on types, rather than on any particular types, allowing algorithms to inter-operate with any data types meeting the necessary requirements. These sets of requirements, known as concepts, can specify syntactic as well as semantic requirements. Besides providing a powerful means of describing interfaces to maximize software reuse, concepts provide a uniform mechanism for more closely coupling libraries with compilers and for effecting domain-specific library-based compiler extensions. To realize this goal however, programming languages and their associated tools must support concepts as first-class constructs. In this paper we advocate better syntactic and semantic support to make concepts first-class and present results demonstrating the kinds of improvements that are possible with static checking, compiler optimization, and algorithm correctness proofs for generic libraries based on concepts.

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Unifying clones with a generative programming technique: a case study

Jarzabek¹,

Li²

2006

J. Softw. Maint. Evol.: Res. Pract.

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Software clones-similar program structures repeated in variant forms-increase the risk of update anomalies, blow up the program size and complexity, possibly contributing to high maintenance costs. Yet, programs are often polluted by clones. In this paper, we present a case study of cloning in the Java Buffer library, JDK 1.5. We found that at least 68% of the code in the Buffer library was contained in cloned classes or class methods. Close analysis of program situations that led to cloning revealed difficulties in eliminating clones with conventional program design techniques. As a possible solution, we applied a generative technique of XVCL (XML-based Variant Configuration Language) to represent similar classes and methods in generic, adaptable form. Concrete buffer classes could be automatically produced from the generic structures. We argue, on analytical and empirical grounds, that unifying clones reduced conceptual complexity and enhanced the changeability of the Buffer library at rates proportional to code size reduction (68%). We evaluated our solution in qualitative and quantitative ways, and conducted a controlled experiment to support this claim. The approach presented in the paper can be used to enhance genericity and changeability of any program, independently of an application domain or programming language. As the solution is not without pitfalls, we discuss trade-offs involved in its project application.

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A comparative study of language support for generic programming

Cited by 24 publications

References 0 publications

A language for generic programming in the large

A language for generic programming in the large

Generic Programming and High-Performance Libraries

Unifying clones with a generative programming technique: a case study

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