Abstract

This paper describes a categorical view of programs, based on Power and Robinson's premonoidal categories and Joyal, Street and Verity's monoidal traced categories.

This categorical model can be viewed graphically as a form of mixed data-flow and control-flow graphs, such as:

In this paper, we present a programming language whose semantics is given using partially traced premonoidal closed categorical structure. This semantics can be viewed graphically, which is how most of the presentation will be given. The semantics has been implemented as a Java applet, which will draw a program's flow graph (all the diagrams in this paper are drawn using this applet).

Of the existing models of programming, this paper's is closest to Milner's control structures, and especially to Gardner's name-free presentation.

Previous | Next