DOCSLIB.ORG

Analysis of a Distributed User In- Terface Framework – Through Development of a Map Based Multiplayer Game

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Analysis of a Distributed User In- Terface Framework – Through Development of a Map Based Multiplayer Game Linköping University | Department of Computer and Information Science Master’s thesis, 30 ECTS | Computer Science 2020 | LIU-IDA/LITH-EX-A--20/077--SE Analysis of a Distributed User In- terface Framework – through development of a map based multiplayer game Analys av ett ramverk för distibuerade användargränsnitt - genom utveckling av ett kartbaserat multiplayer-spel Ermin Pitarevic Supervisor : Anders Fröberg Examiner : Erik Berglund Linköpings universitet SE–581 83 Linköping +46 13 28 10 00 , www.liu.se Upphovsrätt Detta dokument hålls tillgängligt på Internet - eller dess framtida ersättare - under 25 år från publicer- ingsdatum under förutsättning att inga extraordinära omständigheter uppstår. Tillgång till dokumentet innebär tillstånd för var och en att läsa, ladda ner, skriva ut enstaka ko- pior för enskilt bruk och att använda det oförändrat för ickekommersiell forskning och för undervis- ning. Överföring av upphovsrätten vid en senare tidpunkt kan inte upphäva detta tillstånd. All annan användning av dokumentet kräver upphovsmannens medgivande. För att garantera äktheten, säker- heten och tillgängligheten finns lösningar av teknisk och administrativ art. Upphovsmannens ideella rätt innefattar rätt att bli nämnd som upphovsman i den omfattning som god sed kräver vid användning av dokumentet på ovan beskrivna sätt samt skydd mot att dokumentet ändras eller presenteras i sådan form eller i sådant sammanhang som är kränkande för upphovsman- nens litterära eller konstnärliga anseende eller egenart. För ytterligare information om Linköping University Electronic Press se förlagets hemsida http://www.ep.liu.se/. Copyright The publishers will keep this document online on the Internet - or its possible replacement - for a period of 25 years starting from the date of publication barring exceptional circumstances. The online availability of the document implies permanent permission for anyone to read, to down- load, or to print out single copies for his/hers own use and to use it unchanged for non-commercial research and educational purpose. Subsequent transfers of copyright cannot revoke this permission. All other uses of the document are conditional upon the consent of the copyright owner. The publisher has taken technical and administrative measures to assure authenticity, security and accessibility. According to intellectual property law the author has the right to be mentioned when his/her work is accessed as described above and to be protected against infringement. For additional information about the Linköping University Electronic Press and its procedures for publication and for assurance of document integrity, please refer to its www home page: http://www.ep.liu.se/. © Ermin Pitarevic Abstract A variety of user interfaces have provided different solutions and possibilities, highlight- ing the importance of them in our interaction with computers. As our interaction with computers have been reaching different levels, the importance of the designing and devel- opment of user interfaces have become more obvious. The aim is to focus on the relatively new field within Human Computer Interaction, Distributed User Interfaces. Moreover, the work should focus on the provided Distributed User Interface framework, Marve, and further analyze and evaluate it through the imple- mentation of a larger web application, a map based multiplayer game. Given the result, shortcomings and related requirements were introduced, which are not only applicable for Marve, but for web focused Distributed User Interface frameworks in general. The work has brought up the importance of understanding the contribution of a framework as Marve, and how this can be used to facilitate the development of a web application. Ad- ditionally, the work demonstrates where Marve contributes to facilitated development of the map based multiplayer game. Furthermore, it highlights important issues, which have to be managed by Marve in order to being a complete Distributed User Interface frame- work for web development. Several shortcomings have been brought up and discussed, setting up additional requirements for further development and improvements. Acknowledgments All the years here at Linköping University have been tough but memorable, an experienced journey to say the least. There have been a lot of challenges, which have been putting me to the test. A great experience which has helped me develop a lot! I would like to thank Erik Berglund and Anders Fröberg for patiently helping me throughout this work with constant availability. Great guidance, useful advices and encouraging words that I appreciate. Another thank you to others that have been part of this journey. And last but definitely not least, a special thank you to the ones who have supported me and continuously do. You know who you are. iv Contents Abstract iii Acknowledgments iv Contents v List of Figures vii List of Tables viii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Motivation . 1 1.2 Aim............................................ 3 1.3 Research questions . 3 1.4 Delimitations . 3 2 Theory 4 2.1 Human Computer Interaction . 4 2.2 Intelligent User Interfaces . 5 2.3 Human Computer Interaction and Usability . 5 2.4 Distributed User Interfaces . 6 2.5 Challenges with Distributed User Interfaces . 6 2.6 The Marve Framework . 7 2.7 Related Work . 9 3 Method 10 3.1 Description of the Game . 10 3.2 Technical Description of the Platform . 11 3.3 OpenStreetMap . 11 3.4 Leaflet . 11 3.5 Turf.js . 12 3.6 Flask . 12 3.7 The Marve Framework and its Contribution . 13 3.8 Development of the Game . 16 3.9 Shortcomings and Requirements . 21 4 Results 22 4.1 DUIHammer . 22 4.2 Distribution with Marve and Shortcomings . 26 4.3 Requirements Based on the Shortcomings . 28 5 Discussion 29 5.1 Results . 29 v 5.2 Method . 33 5.3 Source Criticism . 35 5.4 The work in a wider context . 35 6 Conclusion 36 6.1 Future Work . 37 Bibliography 38 vi List of Figures 3.1 Initial sketch of the layout/structure of the game. 11 3.2 Simple device and room handling example, where device 1 and 2 requested to join and joined room 1, while device 3 did the same for room 2. 14 3.3 The reference to a node element is set for the receiving device, and the distributed object will be placed there. 16 3.4 The two classes included for the database. 21 4.1 The game lobby, with options to enter room number and the team to join. 22 4.2 Request to start the game was made by one of the team-leaders, and both team- leaders have to confirm the start. 23 4.3 The game panel in different phases, with relevant information and actions to be made. 23 4.4 The action section, with actions for a soldier to the left and healer to the right. 24 4.5 The path calculated to a destination for a selected character. 24 4.6 The path time difference between two different surfaces, asphalt and grass. 25 4.7 The shooting action, the sight line is shown and then the bullet is fired. 25 vii List of Tables 2.1 Component presentation . 8 4.1 Requirements for the Marve Framework based on the presented shortcomings . 28 viii 1 Introduction In the last decades, our interaction with computers has fundamentally changed. With the technology continuously evolving, we now have access to powerful machines with enor- mous functionalities and capabilities. [16, 5] The shift from having big computers in secure rooms used by professionals, to smaller personal computers in homes and offices, was the factor that created the need for the Human Computer Interaction field [16]. With a vari- ety of platforms, the restriction of performing tasks on a specific device is no longer a concern. Likewise, as the Web is rapidly evolving, many challenges and issues are remaining, while new ones are arriving. This has an impact on the development and designing of the User Interfaces, related systems and applications, while also affecting the functionality of the Web. [16, 5] Designing the systems is very dependent on the Human Computer Interaction field, which is the area that establishes the actual communication platform between the users and the computers. The challenge that arises is to achieve the perfect interaction, which in turn creates the ideal coherence. Additionally, the focus also lies on how this can be applicable in today’s digital world. [5] 1.1 Motivation The development within the Human Computer Interaction field involves the understanding of the user needs, in order to contribute innovatively and meaningfully. More intelligent, interactive, and beneficial designs have become applicable, providing many new challenges for the developers and designers of the interfaces and systems. 1 1.1. Motivation Initially, this modern interaction between computers and users was done using a Command Line Interface (CLI), which is still popular today. Another well-known User Interface which got introduced after the CLI is the Graphical User Interface (GUI), which have been used for a long time, and still is. The shift from the CLI to the GUI opened up for many possibilities and emphasized the importance and relevance of the User Interfaces. Several other User Interfaces were introduced with different contribution to the field, with more focus on the social and natural interaction, as well as the body movement. However, none of them really reached the groundbreaking level as the GUI. Ubiquitous computing, with several devices being connected and interacting, changes the availability of devices, and eliminates the direct dependency to a specific device. This requires innovative and different interface models which could facilitate the development of dynamic applications, as well as support these new capabilities and modifications. Having devices working together, several separate GUIs are required to support every new configuration, mainly due to the complex interaction structures and mechanisms. This is not always optimal as programmers have to put significant time and effort to develop these, which can result in big costs for software projects.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Effect of Compression and Expansion on Stochastic Reaction Networks
    IMT School for Advanced Studies, Lucca Lucca, Italy The Effect of Compression and Expansion on Stochastic Reaction Networks PhD Program in Institutions, Markets and Technologies Curriculum in Computer Science and Systems Engineering (CSSE) XXXI Cycle By Tabea Waizmann 2021 The dissertation of Tabea Waizmann is approved. Program Coordinator: Prof. Rocco De Nicola, IMT Lucca Supervisor: Prof. Mirco Tribastone, IMT Lucca The dissertation of Tabea Waizmann has been reviewed by: Dr. Catia Trubiani, Gran Sasso Science Institute Prof. Michele Loreti, University of Camerino IMT School for Advanced Studies, Lucca 2021 To everyone who believed in me. Contents List of Figures ix List of Tables xi Acknowledgements xiii Vita and Publications xv Abstract xviii 1 Introduction 1 2 Background 6 2.1 Multisets . .6 2.2 Reaction Networks . .7 2.3 Ordinary Lumpability . 11 2.4 Layered Queuing Networks . 12 2.5 PEPA . 16 3 Coarse graining mass-action stochastic reaction networks by species equivalence 19 3.1 Species Equivalence . 20 3.1.1 Species equivalence as a generalization of Markov chain ordinary lumpability . 27 3.1.2 Characterization of SE for mass-action networks . 27 3.1.3 Computation of the maximal SE and reduced net- work . 28 vii 3.2 Applications . 31 3.2.1 Computational systems biology . 31 3.2.2 Epidemic processes in networks . 33 3.3 Discussion . 36 4 DiffLQN: Differential Equation Analysis of Layered Queuing Networks 37 4.1 DiffLQN .............................. 38 4.1.1 Architecture . 38 4.1.2 Capabilities . 38 4.1.3 Syntax . 39 4.2 Case Study: Client-Server dynamics . 41 4.3 Discussion .
    [Show full text]
  • Type Checking Physical Frames of Reference for Robotic Systems
    PhysFrame: Type Checking Physical Frames of Reference for Robotic Systems Sayali Kate Michael Chinn Hongjun Choi Purdue University University of Virginia Purdue University USA USA USA [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Xiangyu Zhang Sebastian Elbaum Purdue University University of Virginia USA USA [email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT Engineering (ESEC/FSE ’21), August 23–27, 2021, Athens, Greece. ACM, New A robotic system continuously measures its own motions and the ex- York, NY, USA, 16 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3468264.3468608 ternal world during operation. Such measurements are with respect to some frame of reference, i.e., a coordinate system. A nontrivial 1 INTRODUCTION robotic system has a large number of different frames and data Robotic systems have rapidly growing applications in our daily life, have to be translated back-and-forth from a frame to another. The enabled by the advances in many areas such as AI. Engineering onus is on the developers to get such translation right. However, such systems becomes increasingly important. Due to the unique this is very challenging and error-prone, evidenced by the large characteristics of such systems, e.g., the need of modeling the phys- number of questions and issues related to frame uses on developers’ ical world and satisfying the real time and resource constraints, forum. Since any state variable can be associated with some frame, robotic system engineering poses new challenges to developers. reference frames can be naturally modeled as variable types. We One of the prominent challenges is to properly use physical frames hence develop a novel type system that can automatically infer of reference.
    [Show full text]
  • Dynamic Extension of Typed Functional Languages
    Dynamic Extension of Typed Functional Languages Don Stewart PhD Dissertation School of Computer Science and Engineering University of New South Wales 2010 Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Manuel M. T. Chakravarty Co-supervisor: Dr. Gabriele Keller Abstract We present a solution to the problem of dynamic extension in statically typed functional languages with type erasure. The presented solution re- tains the benefits of static checking, including type safety, aggressive op- timizations, and native code compilation of components, while allowing extensibility of programs at runtime. Our approach is based on a framework for dynamic extension in a stat- ically typed setting, combining dynamic linking, runtime type checking, first class modules and code hot swapping. We show that this framework is sufficient to allow a broad class of dynamic extension capabilities in any statically typed functional language with type erasure semantics. Uniquely, we employ the full compile-time type system to perform run- time type checking of dynamic components, and emphasize the use of na- tive code extension to ensure that the performance benefits of static typing are retained in a dynamic environment. We also develop the concept of fully dynamic software architectures, where the static core is minimal and all code is hot swappable. Benefits of the approach include hot swappable code and sophisticated application extension via embedded domain specific languages. We instantiate the concepts of the framework via a full implementation in the Haskell programming language: providing rich mechanisms for dy- namic linking, loading, hot swapping, and runtime type checking in Haskell for the first time. We demonstrate the feasibility of this architecture through a number of novel applications: an extensible text editor; a plugin-based network chat bot; a simulator for polymer chemistry; and xmonad, an ex- tensible window manager.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to the Literature on Programming Language Design Gary T
    Computer Science Technical Reports Computer Science 7-1999 Introduction to the Literature On Programming Language Design Gary T. Leavens Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cs_techreports Part of the Programming Languages and Compilers Commons Recommended Citation Leavens, Gary T., "Introduction to the Literature On Programming Language Design" (1999). Computer Science Technical Reports. 59. http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cs_techreports/59 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Computer Science at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Computer Science Technical Reports by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Introduction to the Literature On Programming Language Design Abstract This is an introduction to the literature on programming language design and related topics. It is intended to cite the most important work, and to provide a place for students to start a literature search. Keywords programming languages, semantics, type systems, polymorphism, type theory, data abstraction, functional programming, object-oriented programming, logic programming, declarative programming, parallel and distributed programming languages Disciplines Programming Languages and Compilers This article is available at Iowa State University Digital Repository: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cs_techreports/59 Intro duction to the Literature On Programming Language Design Gary T. Leavens TR 93-01c Jan. 1993, revised Jan. 1994, Feb. 1996, and July 1999 Keywords: programming languages, semantics, typ e systems, p olymorphism, typ e theory, data abstrac- tion, functional programming, ob ject-oriented programming, logic programming, declarative programming, parallel and distributed programming languages.
    [Show full text]
  • Incremental Type Inference for Software Engineering
    Incremental Type Inference for Software Engineering Jonathan Aldrich University of Washington [email protected] Abstract The desire to use high-level language constructs while Software engineering focused type inference can enhance preserving a static type-safe guarantee drives programmer productivity in statically typed object- programmers to ask for ever-more powerful type systems. oriented languages. Type inference is a system of However, specifying a type that may be almost as long automatically inferring the argument and return types of and complicated as the function it describes can be a function. It provides considerable programming impractical. convenience, because the programmer can realize the benefits of a statically typed language without manually 1.2. Type Inference in ML entering the type annotations. We study the problem of type inference in object-oriented languages and propose In ML, it is possible for the compiler to analyze the an incremental, programmer-aided approach. Code is body of a function and infer the type of that function. For added one method at a time and missing types are example, a function that squares each of its arguments and inferred if possible. We present a specification and returns the sum of the squares clearly takes several algorithm for inferring simple object-oriented types in arguments of type int and yields an int in return (see this kind of incremental development environment. figure 1). - fun sumsqrs (x, y) = x*x + y*y; 1. Introduction val sumsqrs = fn : int * int -> int Type inference was popularized by the ML language [Milner et al., 1990]. ML is made up of functions and Figure 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Luca Cardelli • Curriculum Vitae • 2014
    Luca Cardelli • Curriculum Vitae • 2014 Short Bio Luca Cardelli was born near Montecatini Terme, Italy, studied at the University of Pisa (until 1978-07- 12), and has a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Edinburgh(1982-04-01). He worked at Bell Labs, Murray Hill, from 1982-04-05 to 1985-09-20, and at Digital Equipment Corporation, Systems Research Center in Palo Alto, from 1985-09-30 to 1997-10-31, before assuming a position on 1997-11-03 at Microsoft Research, in Cambridge UK, where he was head of the Programming Principles and Tools andSecurity groups until 2012, and is currently a Principal Researcher. His main interests are in type theory and operational semantics (for applications to language design, semantics, and implementation), and in concurrency theory (for applications to computer networks and to modeling biological systems). He implemented the first compiler for ML (one of the most popular typed functional language, whose recent incarnations are Caml and F#) and one of the earliest direct-manipulation user-interface editors. He was a member of the Modula-3 design committee, and has designed a few experimental languages, including Obliq: a distributed higher- order scripting language (voted most influential POPL'95 paper 10 years later), and Polyphonic C#, a distributed extension of C#. His more protracted research activity has been in establishing the semantic and type-theoretic foundations of object-oriented languages, resulting in the 1996 book "A Theory of Objects" with Martin Abadi. More recently he has focused on modeling global and mobile computation, via the Ambient Calculus andSpatial Logics, which indirectly led to a current interest in Systems Biology , Molecular Programming, and Stochastic Systems.
    [Show full text]
  • An Imperative Object Calculus
    An Imperative Object Calculus Mart’n Abadi and Luca Cardelli Digital Equipment Corporation, Systems Research Center Abstract. We develop an imperative calculus of objects. Its main type con- structor is the one for object types, which incorporate variance annotations and Self types. A subtyping relation between object types supports object subsumption. The type system for objects relies on unusual but beneficial as- sumptions about the possible subtypes of an object type. With the addition of polymorphism, the calculus can express classes and inheritance. 1 Introduction Object calculi are formalisms at the same level of abstraction as λ-calculi, but based exclusively on objects rather than functions. Unlike λ-calculi, object calculi are de- signed specifically for clarifying features of object-oriented languages. There is a wide spectrum of relevant object calculi, just as there is a wide spectrum of λ-calculi. One can investigate untyped, simply-typed, and polymorphic calculi, as well as functional and imperative calculi. In object calculi, as in λ-calculi, a small untyped kernel is enriched with derived constructions and with increasingly sophisticated type systems, until language fea- tures can be realistically modeled. The compactness of the initial kernel gives concep- tual unity to the calculi, and enables formal analysis. In this paper we introduce a tiny but expressive imperative calculus. It provides a minimal setting in which to study the imperative operational semantics and the deli- cate typing rules of practical object-oriented languages. The calculus comprises objects, method invocation, method update, object cloning, and local definitions. In a quest for minimality, we take objects to be just collections of methods.
    [Show full text]
  • Exact Maximal Reduction of Stochastic Reaction Networks by Species
    Bioinformatics, 2021, 1–8 doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btab081 Advance Access Publication Date: 3 February 2021 Original Paper Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/bioinformatics/advance-article/doi/10.1093/bioinformatics/btab081/6126804 by DTU Library user on 06 July 2021 Systems Biology Exact maximal reduction of stochastic reaction networks by species lumping Luca Cardelli,1 Isabel Cristina Perez-Verona,2 Mirco Tribastone ,2,* Max Tschaikowski,3 Andrea Vandin 4 and Tabea Waizmann2 1Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, Oxford 34127, OX1 3QD, UK, 2IMT School for Advanced Studies, Lucca 55100, Italy, 3Department of Computer Science, University of Aalborg, Aalborg 34127, 9220, Denmark and 4Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa 56127, Italy *To whom correspondence should be addressed. Associtate Editor: Alfonso Valencia Received on October 16, 2020; revised on January 9, 2021; editorial decision on January 27, 2021; accepted on January 28, 2021 Abstract Motivation: Stochastic reaction networks are a widespread model to describe biological systems where the pres- ence of noise is relevant, such as in cell regulatory processes. Unfortunately, in all but simplest models the resulting discrete state-space representation hinders analytical tractability and makes numerical simulations expensive. Reduction methods can lower complexity by computing model projections that preserve dynamics of interest to the user. Results: We present an exact lumping method for stochastic reaction networks with mass-action kinetics. It hinges on an equivalence relation between the species, resulting in a reduced network where the dynamics of each macro- species is stochastically equivalent to the sum of the original species in each equivalence class, for any choice of the initial state of the system.
    [Show full text]
  • Two-Domain DNA Strand Displacement
    Two-Domain DNA Strand Displacement Luca Cardelli Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK [email protected] We investigate the computing power of a restricted class of DNA strand displacement structures: those that are made of double strands with nicks (interruptions) in the top strand. To preserve this structural invariant, we impose restrictions on the single strands they interact with: we consider only two-domain single strands consisting of one toehold domain and one recognition domain. We study fork and join signal-processing gates based on these structures, and we show that these systems are amenable to formalization and to mechanical verification. 1 Introduction Among the many techniques being developed for molecular computing [5], DNA strand displacement has been proposed as mechanism for performing computation with DNA strands [8, 3]. In most schemes, single-stranded DNA acts as signals and double-stranded (or more complex) DNA structures act as gates. Various circuits have been demonstrated experimentally [10]. The strand displacement mechanism is appealing because it is autonomous [4]: once signals and gates are mixed together, computation proceeds on its own without further intervention until the gates or signals are depleted (output is often read by fluorescence). The energy for computation is provided by the gate structures themselves, which are turned into inactive waste in the process. Moreover, the mechanism requires only DNA molecules: no organic sources, enzymes, or transcription/translation ingredients are required, and the whole apparatus can be chemically synthesized and run in basic wet labs. The main aims of this approach are to harness computational mechanisms that can operate at the molecular level and produce nano-scale structures under program control, and somewhat separately that can intrinsically interface to biological entities [2].
    [Show full text]
  • Type Systems.Fm
    Type Systems Luca Cardelli Microsoft Research 1 Introduction The fundamental purpose of a type system is to prevent the occurrence of execution errors dur- ing the running of a program. This informal statement motivates the study of type systems, but requires clarification. Its accuracy depends, first of all, on the rather subtle issue of what consti- tutes an execution error, which we will discuss in detail. Even when that is settled, the absence of execution errors is a nontrivial property. When such a property holds for all of the program runs that can be expressed within a programming language, we say that the language is type sound. It turns out that a fair amount of careful analysis is required to avoid false and embar- rassing claims of type soundness for programming languages. As a consequence, the classifica- tion, description, and study of type systems has emerged as a formal discipline. The formalization of type systems requires the development of precise notations and defi- nitions, and the detailed proof of formal properties that give confidence in the appropriateness of the definitions. Sometimes the discipline becomes rather abstract. One should always remem- ber, though, that the basic motivation is pragmatic: the abstractions have arisen out of necessity and can usually be related directly to concrete intuitions. Moreover, formal techniques need not be applied in full in order to be useful and influential. A knowledge of the main principles of type systems can help in avoiding obvious and not so obvious pitfalls, and can inspire regularity and orthogonality in language design. When properly developed, type systems provide conceptual tools with which to judge the adequacy of important aspects of language definitions.
    [Show full text]
  • Linguaggi Di Programmazione Non OOP
    Ingegneria del Software Linguaggi di programmazione non OOP Barlini Davide-Carta Daniele-Casiero Fabio-Mascia Cristiano Abstract Scopo principale del lavoro è quello di riportare, nelle schede, una classificazione dei linguaggi di programmazione non orientati agli oggetti. Per far ciò, si è pensato di procedere gradualmente andando a focalizzare via via l’obiettivo. Si introduce il concetto di linguaggio di programmazione andando ad elencare le cinque diverse generazioni di evoluzione degli stessi. Cercando di fornire una classificazione accettabile, si discute dei paradigmi di programmazione citando il paradigma procedurale ed il paradigma dichiarativo e le loro ulteriori articolazioni. La classificazione riportata è successivamente arricchita da nuovi tipi come i “paralleli, concorrenti, distribuiti, applicativi, scripting, markup”. Per ognuno di essi si sono spese due parole di introduzione. Sono infine presentati i linguaggi trovati, ognuno dei quali ha una sua introduzione ed una scheda riassuntiva che ne individua la posizione nella classificazione proposta. 1 Indice Linguaggi di programmazione ......................................................................3 Generazioni ...................................................................................................4 Paradigma di programmazione ...................................................................5 Classificazione..............................................................................................7 I vari linguaggi...............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Early History of F
    The Early History of F# DON SYME, Microsoft, United Kingdom Shepherd: Philip Wadler, University of Edinburgh, UK This paper describes the genesis and early history of the F# programming language. I start with the origins of strongly-typed functional programming (FP) in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. During the same period, Microsoft was founded and grew to dominate the software industry. In 1997, as a response to Java, Microsoft initiated internal projects which eventually became the .NET programming framework and the C# language. From 1997 the worlds of academic functional programming and industry combined at Microsoft Research, Cambridge. The researchers engaged with the company through Project 7, the initial effort to bring multiple languages to .NET, leading to the initiation of .NET Generics in 1998 and F# in 2002. F# was one of several responses by advocates of strongly-typed functional programming to the “object-oriented tidal wave” of the mid-1990s. The 75 development of the core features of F# 1.0 happened from 2004-2007, and I describe the decision-making process that led to the “productization” of F# by Microsoft in 2007-10 and the release of F# 2.0. The origins of F#’s characteristic features are covered: object programming, quotations, statically resolved type parameters, active patterns, computation expressions, async, units-of-measure and type providers. I describe key developments in F# since 2010, including F# 3.0-4.5, and its evolution as an open source, cross-platform language with multiple delivery channels. I conclude by examining some uses of F# and the influence F# has had on other languages so far.
    [Show full text]