Abstract

The programming language Standard ML provides firstorder functors, i.e modules parameterized by modules. First-order functors in the language have a simple and elegant static semantics. The type structure of higher-order modules [3], i.e. modules parameterized by functors, is well understood. But it is only in the recent past that we have seen an implementation of higher-order functors with a forreally defined static semantics in a dialect of Standard ML, SML/NJ. A study of this static semantics [7] shows it to be much more comphcated than the static semantics of firstorder functors. This paper investigates whether we can trade some semantic features in the module language to obtain a simpler static semantics, closer in spirit to that of first-order functors. This work helps in a conceptuM understanding o the semantics of higher-order modules.

Citations

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