Convert

Abstract

A programming language is described which is applicable to problems conveniently described by transformation rules. By this is meant that patterns may be prescribed, each being associated with a skeleton, so that a series of such pairs may be searched until a pattern is found which matches an expression to be transformed. The conditions for a match are governed by a code which also allows subexpressions to be identified and eventually substituted into the corresponding skeleton. The primitive patterns and primitive skeletons are described, as well as the principles which allow their elaboration into more complicated patterns and skeletons. The advantages of the language are that it allows one to apply transformation rules to lists and arrays as easily as strings, that both patterns and skeletons may be defined recursively, and that as a consequence programs may be stated quite concisely.

The evolution of Lisp

“…Another of the early pattern-matching languages built on Lisp was CONVERT [Guzman 1966]. Whereas METEOR was pretty much a straight implementation of COMIT represented as Lisp data structures, CONVERT merged the pattern-matching features of COMIT with the recursive data structures of Lisp, allowing the matching of recursively defined patterns to arbitrary Lisp data structures.…”

Automatic generation of configuration interaction Hamiltonian matrix elements

“…CONVERT is a pattern matching and substitution language which first appeared as a Lw-based interpreter [ 6 ] . The compiler used for the present work is written in and complies to a very powerful version of REC [ 121.…”

“…Algebraic manipulation programs have existed for many years (e.g., Macsyma, Formac, Reduce [5]), but these are mostly limited to large computers and are not easily available throughout the world. Therefore we set out to express our problem in a string-oriented adaptation of the programming language CONVERT [ 6 ] .…”

Brief notes and history of computing in Mexico during 50 years

“…However, the flexibility to create other compilers results in REC for special purposes: REC/DDT for debugging programs, REC/MA for controlling the multichannel analyzer and REC/Visual for visual control [9]. Indeed, REC and CONVERT [7] were cited notoriously by Marvin Minsky in his historic book "Computation: Finite and Infinite Machines" [8].…”

“…The systematic and theoretical study of the reversible cellular automata led to the graduation of several undergraduate students and postgraduate studies from UNAM and CINVESTAV, who carried out their theses on these topics. 7 This work in the investigation of the calculation of reversible automata allowed to have direct contact with international professors such as Wolfram, David Hillman who were also working on similar algorithms [28]. Another important point that was studied with McIntosh was the question of giving a limit for the maximum length of the minimum neighborhood required to have a reversible behavior in evolution rule of one-dimensional cellular automata.…”