Upper and lower boundsIn mathematics, particularly in order theory, an upper bound or majorant of a subset S of some preordered set (K, ≤) is an element of K that is greater than or equal to every element of S. Dually, a lower bound or minorant of S is defined to be an element of K that is less than or equal to every element of S. A set with an upper (respectively, lower) bound is said to be bounded from above or majorized (respectively bounded from below or minorized) by that bound.
Infimum and supremumIn mathematics, the infimum (abbreviated inf; plural infima) of a subset of a partially ordered set is the greatest element in that is less than or equal to each element of if such an element exists. In other words, it is the greatest element of that is lower or equal to the lowest element of . Consequently, the term greatest lower bound (abbreviated as ) is also commonly used. The supremum (abbreviated sup; plural suprema) of a subset of a partially ordered set is the least element in that is greater than or equal to each element of if such an element exists.
Greatest element and least elementIn mathematics, especially in order theory, the greatest element of a subset of a partially ordered set (poset) is an element of that is greater than every other element of . The term least element is defined dually, that is, it is an element of that is smaller than every other element of Let be a preordered set and let An element is said to be if and if it also satisfies: for all By switching the side of the relation that is on in the above definition, the definition of a least element of is obtained.
SubtypingIn programming language theory, subtyping (also subtype polymorphism or inclusion polymorphism) is a form of type polymorphism in which a subtype is a datatype that is related to another datatype (the supertype) by some notion of substitutability, meaning that program elements, typically subroutines or functions, written to operate on elements of the supertype can also operate on elements of the subtype. If S is a subtype of T, the subtyping relation (written as S
Function typeIn computer science and mathematical logic, a function type (or arrow type or exponential) is the type of a variable or parameter to which a function has or can be assigned, or an argument or result type of a higher-order function taking or returning a function. A function type depends on the type of the parameters and the result type of the function (it, or more accurately the unapplied type constructor · → ·, is a higher-kinded type).
Simply typed lambda calculusThe simply typed lambda calculus (), a form of type theory, is a typed interpretation of the lambda calculus with only one type constructor () that builds function types. It is the canonical and simplest example of a typed lambda calculus. The simply typed lambda calculus was originally introduced by Alonzo Church in 1940 as an attempt to avoid paradoxical use of the untyped lambda calculus. The term simple type is also used to refer extensions of the simply typed lambda calculus such as products, coproducts or natural numbers (System T) or even full recursion (like PCF).
Typed lambda calculusA typed lambda calculus is a typed formalism that uses the lambda-symbol () to denote anonymous function abstraction. In this context, types are usually objects of a syntactic nature that are assigned to lambda terms; the exact nature of a type depends on the calculus considered (see kinds below). From a certain point of view, typed lambda calculi can be seen as refinements of the untyped lambda calculus, but from another point of view, they can also be considered the more fundamental theory and untyped lambda calculus a special case with only one type.
Anonymous functionIn computer programming, an anonymous function (function literal, lambda abstraction, lambda function, lambda expression or block) is a function definition that is not bound to an identifier. Anonymous functions are often arguments being passed to higher-order functions or used for constructing the result of a higher-order function that needs to return a function. If the function is only used once, or a limited number of times, an anonymous function may be syntactically lighter than using a named function.
Higher-order functionIn mathematics and computer science, a higher-order function (HOF) is a function that does at least one of the following: takes one or more functions as arguments (i.e. a procedural parameter, which is a parameter of a procedure that is itself a procedure), returns a function as its result. All other functions are first-order functions. In mathematics higher-order functions are also termed operators or functionals. The differential operator in calculus is a common example, since it maps a function to its derivative, also a function.
Completeness (order theory)In the mathematical area of order theory, completeness properties assert the existence of certain infima or suprema of a given partially ordered set (poset). The most familiar example is the completeness of the real numbers. A special use of the term refers to complete partial orders or complete lattices. However, many other interesting notions of completeness exist. The motivation for considering completeness properties derives from the great importance of suprema (least upper bounds, joins, "") and infima (greatest lower bounds, meets, "") to the theory of partial orders.
Calculus of constructionsIn mathematical logic and computer science, the calculus of constructions (CoC) is a type theory created by Thierry Coquand. It can serve as both a typed programming language and as constructive foundation for mathematics. For this second reason, the CoC and its variants have been the basis for Coq and other proof assistants. Some of its variants include the calculus of inductive constructions (which adds inductive types), the calculus of (co)inductive constructions (which adds coinduction), and the predicative calculus of inductive constructions (which removes some impredicativity).
Dependent typeIn computer science and logic, a dependent type is a type whose definition depends on a value. It is an overlapping feature of type theory and type systems. In intuitionistic type theory, dependent types are used to encode logic's quantifiers like "for all" and "there exists". In functional programming languages like Agda, ATS, Coq, F*, Epigram, and Idris, dependent types help reduce bugs by enabling the programmer to assign types that further restrain the set of possible implementations.
First-class functionIn computer science, a programming language is said to have first-class functions if it treats functions as first-class citizens. This means the language supports passing functions as arguments to other functions, returning them as the values from other functions, and assigning them to variables or storing them in data structures. Some programming language theorists require support for anonymous functions (function literals) as well.
Join and meetIn mathematics, specifically order theory, the join of a subset of a partially ordered set is the supremum (least upper bound) of denoted and similarly, the meet of is the infimum (greatest lower bound), denoted In general, the join and meet of a subset of a partially ordered set need not exist. Join and meet are dual to one another with respect to order inversion. A partially ordered set in which all pairs have a join is a join-semilattice. Dually, a partially ordered set in which all pairs have a meet is a meet-semilattice.
System FSystem F (also polymorphic lambda calculus or second-order lambda calculus) is a typed lambda calculus that introduces, to simply typed lambda calculus, a mechanism of universal quantification over types. System F formalizes parametric polymorphism in programming languages, thus forming a theoretical basis for languages such as Haskell and ML. It was discovered independently by logician Jean-Yves Girard (1972) and computer scientist John C. Reynolds.
Lambda calculusLambda calculus (also written as λ-calculus) is a formal system in mathematical logic for expressing computation based on function abstraction and application using variable binding and substitution. It is a universal model of computation that can be used to simulate any Turing machine. It was introduced by the mathematician Alonzo Church in the 1930s as part of his research into the foundations of mathematics. Lambda calculus consists of constructing lambda terms and performing reduction operations on them.
Type theoryIn mathematics, logic, and computer science, a type theory is the formal presentation of a specific type system, and in general, type theory is the academic study of type systems. Some type theories serve as alternatives to set theory as a foundation of mathematics. Two influential type theories that were proposed as foundations are Alonzo Church's typed λ-calculus and Per Martin-Löf's intuitionistic type theory. Most computerized proof-writing systems use a type theory for their foundation, a common one is Thierry Coquand's Calculus of Inductive Constructions.
Type signatureIn computer science, a type signature or type annotation defines the inputs and outputs for a function, subroutine or method. A type signature includes the number, types, and order of the arguments contained by a function. A type signature is typically used during overload resolution for choosing the correct definition of a function to be called among many overloaded forms. In C and C++, the type signature is declared by what is commonly known as a function prototype.
Duality (order theory)In the mathematical area of order theory, every partially ordered set P gives rise to a dual (or opposite) partially ordered set which is often denoted by Pop or Pd. This dual order Pop is defined to be the same set, but with the inverse order, i.e. x ≤ y holds in Pop if and only if y ≤ x holds in P. It is easy to see that this construction, which can be depicted by flipping the Hasse diagram for P upside down, will indeed yield a partially ordered set. In a broader sense, two partially ordered sets are also said to be duals if they are dually isomorphic, i.
Bounded setIn mathematical analysis and related areas of mathematics, a set is called bounded if it is, in a certain sense, of finite measure. Conversely, a set which is not bounded is called unbounded. The word "bounded" makes no sense in a general topological space without a corresponding metric. Boundary is a distinct concept: for example, a circle in isolation is a boundaryless bounded set, while the half plane is unbounded yet has a boundary. A bounded set is not necessarily a closed set and vice versa.
