A survey of program visualizations for the functional paradigm

1995

In this paper, the static analysis of programs in the functional programming language Miranda* is described based on two graph models. A new control-flow graph model of Miranda definitions is presented, and a model with four classes of caligraphs. Standard software metrics are applicable to these models. A Miranda front end for Prometrixt, a tool for the automated analysis of flowgraphs and callgraphs, has been developed. This front end produces the flowgraph and callgraph representations of Miranda programs. Some features of the metric analyser are illustrated with an example program. The tool provides a promising access to standard metrics on functional programs.

Programming is an art that enables, one to elaborate or instruct ones aim to compute specific facets. The adoption of functional programming as a mainstream language is a challenge. However, with great rewards. Functional programming defines the concepts of problems that one rationalises for developing robust, scalable as well as for example concurrent systems. This research study, considers the following: why is functional programming the future for software engineering? And why is functional programming, receiving more attention than mainstream languages such as C++ and others.

2002

Functional programming is a powerful style in which to write programs. However, students and faculty alike often have a hard time appreciating its beauty and learning to exploit its power. These difficulties arise in part because the functional style requires programmers to think at a higher level of abstraction, and in part because functional programs differ in fundamental ways from programs written in more common styles. A pattern language of functional programs can provide programmers with concrete guidance for writing functional programs and at the same time offer a deeper appreciation of functional style. Used effectively, such pattern languages will help functional programming educators reach a broader audience of faculty, students, and professionals. The result will be better programmers and better programs.

1999

Abstract We outline a deductive concept for an introductory course to computer science aimed at CS students as well as students from other disciplines. The emphasis is on introducing fundamental concepts of computer science and showing how they evolve from each other. Functional programming in Haskell is used as a vehicle to explain these concepts and to allow for practical exercises. We argue that functional programming is more than just a good option for such an introductory course.

Turtle graphics has been implemented in a purely functional programming language. The implementation is easily portable to any purely functional programming language that has limited graphics capabilities. The main importance of the implementation is in its educational value. The implementation brings the expressiveness of LOGO to functional programming.

Journal of Computing in Small …, 1999

Visualization is an important tool for student learning. The Function Visualizer provides a resource that permits the visualization of function calls for any set of Java functions. It provides a control panel where the user specifies the speed of the visualization and the parameter values for the initial function call. When the visualization begins, lines of code are highlighted in a function window as they are executed and when another function is called, a new window appears on top of the previous one, producing a visualization of the function call stack. This tool provides a flexible and intuitive visualization aid for the teaching of recursion.

1995

This paper discusses our experience in using a functional language in topics across the computer science curriculum. After examining the arguments for taking a functional approach, we look in detail at four case studies from different areas: programming language semantics, machine architectures, graphics and formal languages.

Technology of Object-Oriented Languages and Systems, 1991

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2000

The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record.

2002

Functional programs are merely equations; they may be manipulated by straightforward equational reasoning. In particular, one can use this style of reasoning to calculate programs, in the same way that one calculates numeric values in arithmetic. Many useful theorems for such reasoning derive from an algebraic view of programs, built around datatypes and their operations.

Hristov, H., „Review and outlooks of the means for visualization of syntax semantics and source code. Procedural and object oriented paradigm – differences”, Anniversary International Conference REMIA 2010, Plovdiv, 2010, pp. 443-450, ISBN 978-954-423-648-9, 2010

In the article, we have reviewed the means for visualization of syntax, semantics and source code for programming languages which support procedural and/or object-oriented paradigm. It is examined how the structure of the source code of the structural and object-oriented programming styles has influenced different approaches for their teaching. We maintain a thesis valid for the object-oriented programming paradigm, which claims that the activities for design and programming of classes are done by the same specialist, and the training of this specialist should include design as well as programming skills and knowledge for modeling of abstract data structures. We put the question how a high level of abstraction in the object-oriented paradigm should be presented in simple model in the design stage, so the complexity in the programming stage stay low and be easily learnable. We give answer to this question, by building models using the UML notation, as we take a concrete example from the teaching practice including programming techniques for inheritance and polymorphism.

Proceedings of TENCON '93. IEEE Region 10 International Conference on Computers, Communications and Automation, 1993

This paper illustrates the variety of visualization techniques that are employed for various programming paradigms, examining the type of information required and the advantages that the information provides the programmer. We examine the specific visualization requirements for each paradigm and the general requirements of visualization systems which depict the flow of control for both sequential and parallel program execution. We find that many of the visualization systems currently available tend to focus on only one aspect of the visualization requirements rather than the broad base of needs of the programmer. The need to integrate these visualization systems in the future is highlighted.

1998

The choice of which programming language to use in introductory computer science courses is guaranteed to spark debate in the computer science community. Programming languages used in computer science instruction have followed various trends or fads within the computing industry. The language choice has often been between languages which are currently in wide use by industry for software production. While it is true that computer science education has a responsibility to achieve a balance between providing training in current practices within the field and core concepts and theory, it is felt that computer science education should not be overly influenced by popular trends when choosing a programming language to use in the teaching of introductory computer science. Functional programming languages are shown to be useful in the teaching of the concepts of computer science. The functional language approach presented in this paper has advantages over imperative languages in the areas of model building, exposition, experimentation and analysis of algorithms. Examples using the J and Scheme programming languages, with emphasis on the use of functional programming notation in exposition are given. 1

SIGCSE bulletin, 1990

Various arguments have been made for the use of functional programming, This paper presents some additional arguments for teaching the discipline of functional programming in an introductory programming course. In particular, functional programming . focuses students on the goal of solving the problem at hand rather than distracting them with a multitude of extraneous details; . encourages the formation of templates, i.e. stereotypical chunks of programming knowledge; . provides computer experiences that reinforce and deepen students' understanding of the abstract concept of function; . leads to code that is concise and elegant. We illustrate these points and others with some of our favorite functional programming examples. Examples are given in LISP and Pascal.