Title
Paths: an abstract alternative to pointers
Abstract
This paper introduces the path, a new programming language construct designed to supplant the use of pointers to access and destructively update recursive data structures. In contrast to the complex semantics and proof rules for pointers, the semantics and proof rules for paths are simple and abstract. In fact, they are easily formalized within a first-order theory of recursive data objects analogous to first-order number theory. We present a number of sample programs, including implementations of queues and binary trees, utilizing the new construct and prove that they are correct.
Year
DOI
Venue
1981
10.1145/567532.567534
POPL
Keywords
Field
DocType
abstract alternative,sample program,binary tree,proof rule,complex semantics,new programming language,destructively update recursive data,recursive data object,number theory,first-order theory,first order,recursive data structure,programming language
Pointer (computer programming),Data structure,Programming language,Computer science,Queue,Binary tree,Implementation,Theoretical computer science,Semantics,Number theory,Recursion
Conference
ISBN
Citations 
PageRank 
0-89791-029-X
2
0.44
References 
Authors
11
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Robert Cartwright152967.27
Robert Hood220.44
Philip Matthews3412.83