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C00002 00002 ah, ha!! i talk about sexprs and lists as abstract data structures
C00004 00003 cryptic message no.2:
C00006 ENDMK
Cā;
ah, ha!! i talk about sexprs and lists as abstract data structures
with binary trees as a possible representation( dotted pairs are
another representation). the point of keeping sexprs and lists separate is that
after describing lists as abstract d.s( with their associated
constructors, selectors and predicates), THEN you note that
if you want to represent them on a LISP machine you:
1. must represent lists in terms of the underlying representation (sexprs)
2.must specify representaitons of the basic list-manipulations( list, null, etc)
interms of the LISP primitves( car, cdr, etc..)
3.must specify i/o transformations to read and print list notation.
and this is the easy way to introduce the discussion of representation
of abstract data structures.
cryptic message no.2:
As you might know, I told Luckham I didn't wish to continue doing his
hacking for him. I'd been trying to write my book and do some things
which I considered interesting and he had declared that neither task
was worthy. Hardly grounds for a working relationship.
At any rate I have solidified some of my ideas into a draft of a
proposal: basically an attack on "reliable program construction" in
the context of a programming environment. The ideas are basically an
attempt to turn the "abstract algorithm and data structures" approach
which I try to convey in my book, into a tool for constructing
understanbable programs. I would like to poke you for one of the
following:
1) information about funding agencies. Suppes has shown interest but
has been slow in doing anything concrete. I understand you've had
experience with NSF and NIE, both of which are relevant funding
groups i believe.
2) perhaps you'd be interested in the content of the proposal and
could work out a mutually agreeable joint venture, or if not, you
might know of someone who would.
John allen