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Engineering Higher-Order Modules in SML/NJ

  • Conference paper
Implementation and Application of Functional Languages (IFL 2009)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 6041))

Abstract

SML/NJ and other Standard ML variants extend the ML module system with higher-order functors, elevating the module language to a full functional language. In this paper, we describe the implementation of higher-order modules in SML/NJ, which is unique in providing “true” higher-order static behavior. This implementation is based on three key ideas: unique internal variables (entity variables) for naming static entities, factorization of the static information in both basic modules and functors into signatures and realizations, and representing the static “effects” and type-level mapping performed by a functor using a static lambda calculus (the entity calculus). This design conforms to MacQueen-Tofte’s re-elaboration semantics without having to re-elaborate functor bodies at functor applications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Chicago, USA

    George Kuan & David MacQueen

Authors
  1. George Kuan
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  2. David MacQueen
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Seton Hall University, 400 South Orange Avenue, 07079, South Orange, NJ, USA

    Marco T. Morazán

  2. School of Computer Science, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, AL10 9AB, Hatfield, Herts, UK

    Sven-Bodo Scholz

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Kuan, G., MacQueen, D. (2010). Engineering Higher-Order Modules in SML/NJ. In: Morazán, M.T., Scholz, SB. (eds) Implementation and Application of Functional Languages. IFL 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6041. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16478-1_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16478-1_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-16477-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-16478-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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