1. <theory, programming> An attribute of values which are used
exactly once: they are neither duplicated nor destroyed. Such
values require no garbage collection, and can safely be
updated in place, even if they form part of a data structure.
Linear types are related to the linear logic of J.-Y Girard.
They extend Schmidt's notion of single threading, provide an
alternative to Hudak and Bloss' update analysis, and offer a
practical complement to Lafont and Holmström's elegant linear
languages.
['Use-Once' Variables and Linear Objects - Storage Management,
Reflection and Multi-Threading, Henry Baker.
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/hb/hbaker/Use1Var.html].
["Linear types can change the world!", Philip Wadler,
"Programming Concepts and Methods", April 1990, eds. M. Broy,
C. Jones, pub. North-Holland, IFIP TC2 Working Conference on
Programming Concepts and Methods, Sea of Galilee, Israel].
(1995-03-03)
Nearby terms:
linear programming « linear space « linear transformation « linear type » line conditioning » line eater » line editor
