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(Mostly) Functional Design?
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Date: | 2005-07-24 (14:51) |
From: | Robert Morelli <morelli@c...> |
Subject: | Re: [Caml-list] Some Clarifications |
Damien Doligez wrote: > On Jul 19, 2005, at 22:14, Robert Morelli wrote: > > >> One of the areas where I do much of my programming is in mathematical >> software. I view this as one of the most difficult areas, at the >> opposite extreme from simple domains like formal methods and language >> tools. >> > > Since computer algebra is clearly a subset of formal methods, and a > pretty good match for OCaml's feature set, I'm rather curious to know > exactly what kind of mathematical software you are writing, that can > be so much more complex. Computer algebra is not all of what mathematical software is about, and computer algebra is not, in practice, a subset of formal methods. The communities of researchers who work in the two fields are traditionally quite distinct, with distinct immediate goals, and the research is funded and evaluated differently. For instance, the NSF in the US funds several different kinds of computational mathematics research through several different programs, and funds formal methods research through several different programs. In principle, the two fields should be merged -- at least in part -- and that is very clearly the vision of some people (though not all). In practice, there have been initiatives to bring the two fields together, but up until now that has been considered a challenging interdisciplinary endeavor. Several years ago I read a paper about a computer algebra system written in OCaml called FOC. The title of the paper was something like "Functors, blah, blah, ... Is it Too Much?" I think the conclusion of the paper was that FOC naturally drew upon all of OCaml's language facilities, both functional and object oriented. This paper might speak to the demands of the domain for anyone who is curious enough to look it up. Of course, we can equally well ask, "Is it Enough?"