Dept. of Math. and Computer Science
University of Leicester
Thursday, 20 November 2003, 14:00
Cybernetica Bldg (Akadeemia tee 21), room B101
Abstract: I shall recap the essence of parametric polymorphism in functional programming and also some of its limitations. I shall also talk about recent joint work with Michael Abbott and Thorsten Altenkirch which introduces a novel approach to polymorphism based on container types and show how they can be used to simplify reasoning about programs. I shall also discuss how containers can be used to extend parametric polymorphism to quotient types which, as far as I know, nobody else has done. I shall finish by showing you how to differentiate a datatype.
The nature of this talk will be expository rather than technical.