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The design and implementation of parametric types in Pascal
Author(s) -
Hennessy John,
Elmquist Hilding
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
software: practice and experience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1097-024X
pISSN - 0038-0644
DOI - 10.1002/spe.4380120207
Subject(s) - pascal (unit) , parametric statistics , computer science , parametric design , programming language , theoretical computer science , type (biology) , algorithm , mathematics , ecology , statistics , biology
Parametric types offer an attractive solution to the problems of dealing with arrays in Pascal. These problems arise from the use of strong, static type checking, especially of array‐type procedure arguments. Parametric types provide solutions both for the array procedure argument problem and allow the consistent inclusion of arrays with dynamic bounds. A parametric type mechanism is proposed and design issues are discussed. The inclusion of parametric types has major effects on the implementation of a language like Pascal. The implementation issues and implementation versus design tradeoffs are examined. The implementation strategy used can be extended to accommodate the standard and generic types in Ada.