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Automated Generalisation of Function Definitions

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Functional and Logic Programming (FLOPS 1999)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1722))

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Abstract

We address the problem of finding the common generalisation of a set of Haskell function definitions so that each function can be defined by partial application of the generalisation. By analogy with unification, which derives the most general common specialisation of two terms, we aim to infer the least general common generalisation. This problem has a unique solution in a first-order setting, but not in a higher-order language. We define a smallest minimal common generalisation which is unique and consider how it might be used for automated program improvement. The same function can have many definitions; we risk over-generalisation if equality is not recognised. A normalising rewrite system is used before generalisation, so many equivalent definitions become identical. The generalisation system we describe has been implemented in Haskell.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, University of York, York, Y010 5DD, England

    Adam Bakewell & Colin Runciman

Authors
  1. Adam Bakewell
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  2. Colin Runciman
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Computer Science, University of Innsbruck, Austria

    Aart Middeldorp

  2. Tokyo Institute of Technology, Graduate School of Information Sciences and Engineering Ookayama, 2-12-2, Meguro-ku, 152-8552, Tokyo, Japan

    Taisuke Sato

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© 1999 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Bakewell, A., Runciman, C. (1999). Automated Generalisation of Function Definitions. In: Middeldorp, A., Sato, T. (eds) Functional and Logic Programming. FLOPS 1999. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1722. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/10705424_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/10705424_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-66677-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47950-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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