linear type

1 definition found

linear type - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  linear type
  
     1. <theory, programming> An attribute of values which are used
     exactly once: they are neither duplicated nor destroyed.  Such
     values require no garbage collection, and can safely be
     updated in place, even if they form part of a data structure.
  
     Linear types are related to the linear logic of J.-Y Girard.
     They extend Schmidt's notion of single threading, provide an
     alternative to Hudak and Bloss' update analysis, and offer a
     practical complement to Lafont and Holmstrom's elegant linear languages
     .
  
     ['Use-Once' Variables and Linear Objects - Storage Management,
     Reflection and Multi-Threading, Henry Baker.
     (ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/hb/hbaker/Use1Var.html)].
  
     ["Linear types can change the world!", Philip Wadler,
     "Programming Concepts and Methods", April 1990, eds. M. Broy,
     C. Jones, pub. North-Holland, IFIP TC2 Working Conference on
     Programming Concepts and Methods, Sea of Galilee, Israel].
  
     (1995-03-03)