I get unduly hung up on unparsable grammar, where probably my brain
just needs to fill in one missing word, so help me here: did you mean
"virtually *any* object". Or, did you mean that the software is able
to object ("Your honor, I object!"), and do so virtually? Assuming the
first, I would think polymorphic might fit the bill.
Time flies like an arrow,
Gary
On Sep 7, 2009, at 2:14 PM, Russ Abbott wrote:
This is to the programmers on this list.
I'm looking for a word that refers generically to software that is
open to virtually object in its host language. The best way for me
to explain it is with examples.
In Java, the various collection classes each have this property. A
List can be a list of anything. (Note that this isn’t about generics
such as List<type>. It’s about the fact that the List functionality
does not limit the sorts of things one can put into a list. Typed
lists are simply a way of ensuring that a program gets its types
right. That's a separate consideration.)
Other examples include map and reduce in functional programming.
They are open if not to anything at least to lists of any sort and
to functions or any sort that operate on elements in those lists.
Another example is a genetic algorithm in that it does not limit the
function that is used as a fitness function or the possible
population elements. Again, these can be anything.
So is there a generic word for software with this sort of
"downwardly open" property?
It may be something like "structural" in that the software defines
an operational structure but not the elements that occupy the
structure. Is there any commonly used word for this?
-- Russ
P.S. This demonstrates that one can have an idea before having a
word for the idea.
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============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
