Introduction to Programming

Concepts
Carlos Varela
RPI
Adapted with permission from:
Seif Haridi
KTH
Peter Van Roy
UCL
C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

Introduction

An introduction to programming concepts

Declarative variables
Functions
Structured data (example: lists)
Functions over lists
Correctness and complexity
Lazy functions
Concurrency and dataflow
State, objects, and classes
Nondeterminism and atomicity
C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

Variables
Variables are short-cuts for values, they cannot be assigned
more than once
declare
V = 9999*9999
{Browse V*V}

Variable identifiers: is what you type

Store variable: is part of the memory system
The declare statement creates a store variable and assigns
its memory address to the identifier V in the environment
C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

Functions
Compute the factorial function:
Start with the mathematical definition
declare
fun {Fact N}
if N==0 then 1 else N*{Fact N-1} end
end

n! 1 2 (n 1) n
0! 1
n! n (n 1)! if n 0

Fact is declared in the environment

Try large factorial {Browse {Fact 100}}

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

Composing functions
Combinations of r items taken from n.
The number of subsets of size r taken from a set of size n
n
n!

r r!( n r )!
declare
fun {Comb N R}
{Fact N} div ({Fact R}*{Fact N-R})
end

Comb

Fact

Fact

Fact

Example of functional abstraction

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

Structured data (lists)

Calculate Pascal triangle

Write a function that calculates the nth row as
one structured value
A list is a sequence of elements:
[1 4 6 4 1]
The empty list is written nil
Lists are created by means of | (cons)

1
1
1
1
1

1
2

3
4

1
3

1
4

declare
H=1
T = [2 3 4 5]
{Browse H|T} % This will show [1 2 3 4 5]

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

Lists (2)
Taking lists apart (selecting components)
A cons has two components a head, and tail
declare L = [5 6 7 8]
|
L.1 gives 5
L.2 give [6 7 8]
6

|
|

7
8

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

nil

Pattern matching
Another way to take a list apart is by use of pattern
matching with a case instruction
case L of H|T then {Browse H} {Browse T} end

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

Functions over lists

1

Compute the function {Pascal N}

Takes an integer N, and returns the
Nth row of a Pascal triangle as a list
1. For row 1, the result is [1]
2. For row N, shift to left row N-1 and
shift to the right row N-1
3. Align and add the shifted rows
element-wise to get row N

1
1
(0) 1
1

1
2

3
4

1
3

1
4

(0)
1

Shift right [0 1 3 3 1]
Shift left [1 3 3 1 0]

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

Functions over lists (2)

Pascal N
declare
fun {Pascal N}
if N==1 then [1]
else
{AddList
{ShiftLeft {Pascal N-1}}
{ShiftRight {Pascal N-1}}}
end
end

Pascal N-1

Pascal N-1

ShiftLeft

ShiftRight

AddList

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

10

Functions over lists (3)

fun {ShiftLeft L}
case L of H|T then
H|{ShiftLeft T}
else [0]
end
end

fun {AddList L1 L2}

case L1 of H1|T1 then
case L2 of H2|T2 then
H1+H2|{AddList T1 T2}
end
else nil end
end

fun {ShiftRight L} 0|L end

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

11

Top-down program development

Understand how to solve the problem by hand
Try to solve the task by decomposing it to simpler tasks
Devise the main function (main task) in terms of suitable
auxiliary functions (subtasks) that simplifies the solution
(ShiftLeft, ShiftRight and AddList)
Complete the solution by writing the auxiliary functions

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

12

Is your program correct?

A program is correct when it does what we would like it
to do
In general we need to reason about the program:
Semantics for the language: a precise model of the
operations of the programming language
Program specification: a definition of the output in terms
of the input (usually a mathematical function or relation)
Use mathematical techniques to reason about the program,
using programming language semantics

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

13

Mathematical induction
Select one or more input to the function
Show the program is correct for the simple cases (base
case)
Show that if the program is correct for a given case, it is
then correct for the next case.
For integers base case is either 0 or 1, and for any integer n
the next case is n+1
For lists the base case is nil, or a list with one or few
elements, and for any list T the next case H|T

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

14

Correctness of factorial
fun {Fact N}
if N==0 then 1 else N*{Fact N-1} end
end

1 2 (n 1) n

Fact ( n 1)

Base Case N=0: {Fact 0} returns 1

Inductive Case N>0: {Fact N} returns N*{Fact N-1} assume
{Fact N-1} is correct, from the spec we see that {Fact N} is
N*{Fact N-1}

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

15

Complexity
Pascal runs very slow,
try {Pascal 24}
{Pascal 20} calls: {Pascal 19} twice,
{Pascal 18} four times, {Pascal 17}
eight times, ..., {Pascal 1} 219 times
Execution time of a program up to a
constant factor is called programs
time complexity.
Time complexity of {Pascal N} is
proportional to 2N (exponential)
Programs with exponential time
complexity are impractical

declare
fun {Pascal N}
if N==1 then [1]
else
{AddList
{ShiftLeft {Pascal N-1}}
{ShiftRight {Pascal N-1}}}
end
end

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

16

Faster Pascal

Introduce a local variable L

Compute {FastPascal N-1} only once
Try with 30 rows.
FastPascal is called N times, each
time a list on the average of size N/2
is processed
The time complexity is proportional
to N2 (polynomial)
Low order polynomial programs are
practical.

fun {FastPascal N}
if N==1 then [1]
else
local L in
L={FastPascal N-1}
{AddList {ShiftLeft L} {ShiftRight L}}
end
end
end

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

17

Lazy evaluation
The functions written so far are evaluated eagerly (as soon
as they are called)
Another way is lazy evaluation where a computation is
done only when the results is needed
Calculates the infinite list:
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ...

declare
fun lazy {Ints N}
N|{Ints N+1}
end

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

18

Lazy evaluation (2)

Write a function that computes as
many rows of Pascals triangle as
fun lazy {PascalList Row}
needed
Row | {PascalList
{AddList
We do not know how many
{ShiftLeft Row}
beforehand
{ShiftRight Row}}}
A function is lazy if it is evaluated
end
only when its result is needed
The function PascalList is evaluated
when needed

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

19

Lazy evaluation (3)

Lazy evaluation will avoid
redoing work if you decide first
you need the 10th row and later
the 11th row
The function continues where it
left off

declare
L = {PascalList [1]}
{Browse L}
{Browse L.1}
{Browse L.2.1}

L<Future>
[1]
[1 1]

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

20

Higher-order programming
Assume we want to write another Pascal function which
instead of adding numbers performs exclusive-or on them
It calculates for each number whether it is odd or even
(parity)
Either write a new function each time we need a new
operation, or write one generic function that takes an
operation (another function) as argument
The ability to pass functions as argument, or return a
function as result is called higher-order programming
Higher-order programming is an aid to build generic
abstractions
C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

21

Variations of Pascal
Compute the parity Pascal triangle
fun {Xor X Y} if X==Y then 0 else 1 end end
1
1
1
1
1

1
2

3
4

1
1
1
3

1
1

1
1

1
0

1
0

1
1

1
0

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

22

Higher-order programming
fun {GenericPascal Op N}
if N==1 then [1]
else L in L = {GenericPascal Op N-1}
{OpList Op {ShiftLeft L} {ShiftRight L}}
end
end
fun {OpList Op L1 L2}
case L1 of H1|T1 then
case L2 of H2|T2 then
{Op H1 H2}|{OpList Op T1 T2}
end
else nil end
end

fun {Add N1 N2} N1+N2 end

fun {Xor N1 N2}
if N1==N2 then 0 else 1 end
end
fun {Pascal N} {GenericPascal Add N} end
fun {ParityPascal N}
{GenericPascal Xor N}
end

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

23

Concurrency

How to do several things at once

Concurrency: running several activities
each running at its own pace
A thread is an executing sequential
program
A program can have multiple threads by
using the thread instruction
{Browse 99*99} can immediately respond
while Pascal is computing

thread
P in
P = {Pascal 21}
{Browse P}
end
{Browse 99*99}

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

24

Dataflow

What happens when multiple threads try to

communicate?
A simple way is to make communicating
threads synchronize on the availability of data
(data-driven execution)
If an operation tries to use a variable that is not
yet bound it will wait
The variable is called a dataflow variable

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

25

Dataflow (II)

Two important properties of dataflow

Calculations work correctly
independent of how they are partitioned
between threads (concurrent activities)
Calculations are patient, they do not
signal error; they wait for data
availability

The dataflow property of variables

makes sense when programs are
composed of multiple threads

declare X
thread
{Delay 5000} X=99
end
{Browse Start} {Browse X*X}
declare X
thread
{Browse Start} {Browse X*X}
end
{Delay 5000} X=99

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

26

State

How to make a function learn from its past?

We would like to add memory to a function to
remember past results
Adding memory as well as concurrency is an
essential aspect of modeling the real world
Consider {FastPascal N}: we would like it to
remember the previous rows it calculated in
order to avoid recalculating them
We need a concept (memory cell) to store,
change and retrieve a value
The simplest concept is a (memory) cell which
is a container of a value
One can create a cell, assign a value to a cell,
and access the current value of the cell
Cells are not variables

declare
C = {NewCell 0}
{Assign C {Access C}+1}
{Browse {Access C}}

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

27

Example
Add memory to Pascal to
remember how many times
it is called
The memory (state) is
global here
Memory that is local to a
function is called
encapsulated state

declare
C = {NewCell 0}
fun {FastPascal N}
{Assign C {Access C}+1}
{GenericPascal Add N}
end

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

28

Objects
Functions with internal
memory are called objects
The cell is invisible outside
of the definition
declare
fun {FastPascal N}
{Browse {Bump}}
{GenericPascal Add N}
end

declare
local C in
C = {NewCell 0}
fun {Bump}
{Assign C {Access C}+1}
{Access C}
end
end

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

29

Classes
A class is a factory of
objects where each object
has its own internal state
Let us create many
independent counter
objects with the same
behavior

fun {NewCounter}
local C Bump in
C = {NewCell 0}
fun {Bump}
{Assign C {Access C}+1}
{Access C}
end
Bump
end
end

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

30

Classes (2)
Here is a class with two
operations: Bump and
Read

fun {NewCounter}
local C Bump Read in
C = {NewCell 0}
fun {Bump}
{Assign C {Access C}+1}
{Access C}
end
fun {Read}
{Access C}
end
[Bump Read]
end
end

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

31

Object-oriented programming
In object-oriented programming the idea of objects and
classes is pushed farther
Classes keep the basic properties of:
State encapsulation
Object factories

Classes are extended with more sophisticated properties:

They have multiple operations (called methods)
They can be defined by taking another class and extending it
slightly (inheritance)

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

32

Nondeterminism
What happens if a program has both concurrency and state
together?
This is very tricky
The same program can give different results from one
execution to the next
This variability is called nondeterminism
Internal nondeterminism is not a problem if it is not
observable from outside

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

33

Nondeterminism (2)
declare
C = {NewCell 0}
thread {Assign C 1} end
thread {Assign C 2} end

t0

C = {NewCell 0}
cell C contains 0

t1

{Assign C 1}
cell C contains 1

t2

{Assign C 2}
cell C contains 2 (final value)

time

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

34

Nondeterminism (3)
declare
C = {NewCell 0}
thread {Assign C 1} end
thread {Assign C 2} end

t0

C = {NewCell 0}
cell C contains 0

t1

{Assign C 2}
cell C contains 2

t2

{Assign C 1}
cell C contains 1 (final value)

time

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

35

Nondeterminism (4)
declare
C = {NewCell 0}
thread I in
I = {Access C}
{Assign C I+1}
end
thread J in
J = {Access C}
{Assign C J+1}
end

What are the possible results?

Both threads increment the cell
C by 1
Expected final result of C is 2
Is that all?

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

36

Nondeterminism (5)
Another possible final result is the cell
C containing the value 1
t0
declare
C = {NewCell 0}
thread I in
I = {Access C}
{Assign C I+1}
end
thread J in
J = {Access C}
{Assign C J+1}
end

C = {NewCell 0}

t1

I = {Access C}

t2

J = {Access C}

I equal 0
J equal 0

t3

{Assign C J+1}

t4

{Assign C I+1}

C contains 1
C contains 1
time

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

37

Lessons learned

Combining concurrency and state is tricky

Complex programs have many possible interleavings
Programming is a question of mastering the interleavings
Famous bugs in the history of computer technology are due to
designers overlooking an interleaving (e.g., the Therac-25 radiation
therapy machine giving doses 1000s of times too high, resulting in
death or injury)
If possible try to avoid concurrency and state together
Encapsulate state and communicate between threads using dataflow
Try to master interleavings by using atomic operations

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

38

Atomicity
How can we master the interleavings?
One idea is to reduce the number of interleavings by
programming with coarse-grained atomic operations
An operation is atomic if it is performed as a whole or
nothing
No intermediate (partial) results can be observed by any
other concurrent activity
In simple cases we can use a lock to ensure atomicity of a
sequence of operations
For this we need a new entity (a lock)
C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

39

Atomicity (2)
declare
L = {NewLock}
lock L then
sequence of ops 1
end

Thread 1

lock L then
sequence of ops 2
end

Thread 2

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

40

The program
declare
C = {NewCell 0}
L = {NewLock}
thread
lock L then I in
I = {Access C}
{Assign C I+1}
end
end
thread
lock L then J in
J = {Access C}
{Assign C J+1}
end
end

The final result of C is

always 2

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

41

Memoizing FastPascal

{FasterPascal N} New Version

1. Make a store S available to FasterPascal
2. Let K be the number of the rows stored in
S (i.e. max row is the Kth row)
3. if N is less or equal K retrieve the N th row
from S
4. Otherwise, compute the rows numbered
K+1 to N, and store them in S
5. Return the Nth row from S

declare
S = {NewStore}
{Put S 2 [1 1]}
{Browse {Get S 2}}
{Browse {Size S}}

Viewed from outside (as a black box),

this version behaves like the earlier
one but faster

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

42

Exercises
1.
2.
3.
4.

Define Add using the Zero and Succ functions representing numbers
in the lambda-calculus. Prove that it is correct using induction.
Write the memoizing Pascal function using the store abstraction
(available at http://www.info.ucl.ac.be/people/PVR/ds/booksuppl.oz)
Reason about the correctness of AddList and ShiftLeft using induction
VRH Exercise 1.6 (page 24)
c) Change GenericPascal so that it also receives a number to use as an identity
for the operation Op: {GenericPascal Op I N}. For example, you could
then use it as:
{GenericPascal Add 0 N}, or
{GenericPascal fun {$ X Y} X*Y end 1 N}

5.

Read VRH Sections 2.1 and 2.2

C. Varela; Adapted w. permission from S. Haridi and

43