Refal Plus Reference Manual

The material in this guide is Copyright (c) Ruten Gurin and Sergei Romanenko 1991-2007.

Introduction

Programming in Refal Plus

• Your First Refal Plus Program
• Data Structures
  • Objects vs. Values
  • Ground Expressions
  • Representing Tree Structures
  • Types of Objects
  • Garbage Collection
• Evaluation and Analysis of Ground Expressions
  • Variables
  • Result Expressions
  • Patterns
• Functions Defined in the Program
  • Formats of Functions
  • Function Definitions
  • One-Sentence Function Definitions
  • Local Variables
  • A Syntax-Related Subtlety: Paths, Rests, and Sources
  • Local Variables (Continuation)
  • Recursion
• Logical conditions
  • Conditions and Predicates
  • Conditionals
  • Logical Connectives
  • Example: Formal Differentiation
  • Example: Comparison of Sets
• Direct access selectors
• Functions returning several results
  • Traversing Ground Expressions
  • Quicksort
• Iteration
• Search and backtracking
  • The Queens Problem
  • The Sequence Problem
• Example: a compiler for a small imperative language
  • The Source Language
  • The Target Language
  • The General Structure of the Compiler
  • The Modules of the Compiler and their Interfaces
  • The Main Module
  • The Scanner
  • The Parser
  • The Code Generator
  • The Dictionary Module

Syntax and Semantics of Refal Plus

• Syntax Notation
• Natural Semantics Specifications
• Lexical Structure of Programs
  • Comments
  • Identifiers
  • Tokens
    • Keywords
    • Character Symbols
    • Word Symbols
    • Numeric Symbols
    • Variables
  • Normalization of the Token Stream
• Objects and Values
• Static and Dynamic Symbols
• Ground Expressions
• Symbolic Names
  • Expression Names
  • Function Names
  • Reference Names
  • Module Names
• Named Ground Expressions
• Variable Values and Environments
• Result Expressions
• Patterns
• Hard Expressions
• Paths
  • Conditions
  • Bindings
  • Searches
  • Matches
  • Rests
    • Delimited Paths
    • Negative Conditions
    • Fences
    • Cuts
    • Failures
    • Right Hand Sides
    • Error Generators
    • Error Traps
  • Sources
    • Alternatives
    • Alternative Matches
    • Result Expressions as Sources
• Sentences
• Pattern Alternatives
• Function Definitions
• Declarations
  • Constant Declarations
  • Object Declarations
  • Function Declarations
• Context Dependent Restrictions
  • Elimination of Redundant Constructs
  • Restrictions Imposed by Function Declarations
  • Restrictions on the Use of References to Functions
  • Restrictions on the Use of Variables
  • Restrictions on the Use of Cuts
• Trace Directives
• Modules
• Program Execution

Refal Plus Library Functions

• Access: Direct Access to Ground Expressions
• Apply: Application of Functions Passed as Arguments
• Arithm: Arithmetic Operations on Integers
• Bit: Bitwise Operations
• Box: Box Operations
• Class: Predicates for Determining Classes of Symbols
• Compare: Comparison Operations
• Convert: Data Convertions
• Dos: Calls to the Operating System
• StdIO: Standard Input/Output
• String: String Operations
• Table: Table Operations
• Vector: Vector Operations

Bibliography