. We present Bigloo, a highly portable and optimizing compiler. Bigloo is the first compiler for strict functional languages that can efficiently compile several languages: Bigloo is the first compiler for full Scheme and full ML, and for these two languages, Bigloo is one of the most efficient compiler now available (Bigloo is available by anonymous ftp on ftp.inria.fr [192.93.2.54]). This high level of performance is achieved by numerous high-level optimizations. Some of those are classical optimizations adapted to higherorder functional languages (e.g. inlining), other optimization schemes are specific to Bigloo (e.g. a new refined closure analysis, an original optimization of imperative variables, and intensive use of higher-order control flow analysis). All these optimizations share the same design guideline: the reduction of heap allocation. 1 Introduction Strict functional programming languages have many different variations, but they all belong to the same family, the so-calle...

We propose a framework to describe type systems with type inference for ML-like languages. Our type systems are parameterized by the type algebras from which types are drawn. Type soundness is proved once-and-for-all under minimal assumptions on the type algebra. Observing that ML-Sub types form a type algebra, we propose a decidable type system for a language a la ML with type inference and polymorphic multi-methods, thus solving a long standing problem. Furthermore, we define a sub-language to express classes (constructors), multi-methods (operators), and their static and dynamic semantics in a consistent manner, independently of the base language.