Abstract

Functional programming presents new challenges in the design of programming environments. In a strongly typed functional language, such as ML, much conventional debugging of runtime errors is replaced by dealing with compile time error reports. On the other hand, the cleanness of functional programming opens up new possibilities for incorporating sophisticated correctness-checking techniques into such environments. C Y NTHIA is a novel editor for ML that both addresses the challenges and explores the possibilities. It uses an underlying proof system as a framework for automatically checking for semantic errors such as non-termination. In addition, C Y NTHIA embodies the idea of programming by analogy --- whereby users write programs by applying abstract transformations to existing programs. This paper investigates C Y NTHIA's potential as a novice ML programming environment. We report on two studies in which it was found that students using C Y NTHIA commit fewer er...

Citations