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Principal signatures for higher-order program modules

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2008

Mads Tofte
Mads Tofte
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
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Abstract

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In this paper we present a language for programming with higher-order modules. The language HML is based on Standard ML in that it provides structures, signatures and functors. In HML, functors can be declared inside structures and specified inside signatures; this is not possible in Standard ML. We present an operational semantics for the static semantics of HML signature expressions, with particular emphasis on the handling of sharing. As a justification for the semantics, we prove a theorem about the existence of principal signatures. This result is closely related to the existence of principal type schemes for functional programming languages with polymorphism.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Functional Programming , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , July 1994 , pp. 285 - 335
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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