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Timestamp:
Oct 29, 2019, 4:01:24 PM (6 years ago)
Author:
Thierry Delisle <tdelisle@…>
Branches:
ADT, arm-eh, ast-experimental, enum, forall-pointer-decay, jacob/cs343-translation, jenkins-sandbox, master, new-ast, new-ast-unique-expr, pthread-emulation, qualifiedEnum
Children:
773db65, 9421f3d8
Parents:
7951100 (diff), 8364209 (diff)
Note: this is a merge changeset, the changes displayed below correspond to the merge itself.
Use the (diff) links above to see all the changes relative to each parent.
Message:

Merge branch 'master' of plg.uwaterloo.ca:software/cfa/cfa-cc

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  • doc/papers/general/Paper.tex

    r7951100 rb067d9b  
    11\documentclass[AMA,STIX1COL]{WileyNJD-v2}
     2\setlength\typewidth{170mm}
     3\setlength\textwidth{170mm}
    24
    35\articletype{RESEARCH ARTICLE}%
    46
    5 \received{26 April 2016}
    6 \revised{6 June 2016}
    7 \accepted{6 June 2016}
    8 
     7\received{12 March 2018}
     8\revised{8 May 2018}
     9\accepted{28 June 2018}
     10
     11\setlength\typewidth{168mm}
     12\setlength\textwidth{168mm}
    913\raggedbottom
    1014
     
    187191}
    188192
    189 \title{\texorpdfstring{\protect\CFA : Adding Modern Programming Language Features to C}{Cforall : Adding Modern Programming Language Features to C}}
     193\title{\texorpdfstring{\protect\CFA : Adding modern programming language features to C}{Cforall : Adding modern programming language features to C}}
    190194
    191195\author[1]{Aaron Moss}
    192196\author[1]{Robert Schluntz}
    193 \author[1]{Peter A. Buhr*}
     197\author[1]{Peter A. Buhr}
    194198\authormark{MOSS \textsc{et al}}
    195199
    196 \address[1]{\orgdiv{Cheriton School of Computer Science}, \orgname{University of Waterloo}, \orgaddress{\state{Waterloo, ON}, \country{Canada}}}
    197 
    198 \corres{*Peter A. Buhr, Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada. \email{pabuhr{\char`\@}uwaterloo.ca}}
     200\address[1]{\orgdiv{Cheriton School of Computer Science}, \orgname{University of Waterloo}, \orgaddress{\state{Waterloo, Ontario}, \country{Canada}}}
     201
     202\corres{Peter A. Buhr, Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada. \email{pabuhr{\char`\@}uwaterloo.ca}}
    199203
    200204\fundingInfo{Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada}
    201205
    202206\abstract[Summary]{
    203 The C programming language is a foundational technology for modern computing with millions of lines of code implementing everything from hobby projects to commercial operating-systems.
    204 This installation base and the programmers producing it represent a massive software-engineering investment spanning decades and likely to continue for decades more.
    205 Nevertheless, C, first standardized almost forty years ago, lacks many features that make programming in more modern languages safer and more productive.
    206 
    207 The goal of the \CFA project (pronounced ``C-for-all'') is to create an extension of C that provides modern safety and productivity features while still ensuring strong backwards compatibility with C and its programmers.
    208 Prior projects have attempted similar goals but failed to honour C programming-style;
    209 for instance, adding object-oriented or functional programming with garbage collection is a non-starter for many C developers.
    210 Specifically, \CFA is designed to have an orthogonal feature-set based closely on the C programming paradigm, so that \CFA features can be added \emph{incrementally} to existing C code-bases, and C programmers can learn \CFA extensions on an as-needed basis, preserving investment in existing code and programmers.
    211 This paper presents a quick tour of \CFA features showing how their design avoids shortcomings of similar features in C and other C-like languages.
    212 Finally, experimental results are presented to validate several of the new features.
     207The C programming language is a foundational technology for modern computing with millions of lines of code implementing everything from hobby projects to commercial operating systems.
     208This installation base and the programmers producing it represent a massive software engineering investment spanning decades and likely to continue for decades more.
     209Nevertheless, C, which was first standardized almost 30 years ago, lacks many features that make programming in more modern languages safer and more productive.
     210The goal of the \CFA project (pronounced ``C for all'') is to create an extension of C that provides modern safety and productivity features while still ensuring strong backward compatibility with C and its programmers.
     211Prior projects have attempted similar goals but failed to honor the C programming style;
     212for instance, adding object-oriented or functional programming with garbage collection is a nonstarter for many C developers.
     213Specifically, \CFA is designed to have an orthogonal feature set based closely on the C programming paradigm, so that \CFA features can be added \emph{incrementally} to existing C code bases, and C programmers can learn \CFA extensions on an as-needed basis, preserving investment in existing code and programmers.
     214This paper presents a quick tour of \CFA features, showing how their design avoids shortcomings of similar features in C and other C-like languages.
     215Experimental results are presented to validate several of the new features.
    213216}%
    214217
    215 \keywords{generic types, tuple types, variadic types, polymorphic functions, C, Cforall}
     218\keywords{C, Cforall, generic types, polymorphic functions, tuple types, variadic types}
    216219
    217220
    218221\begin{document}
    219 \linenumbers                                            % comment out to turn off line numbering
     222%\linenumbers                                            % comment out to turn off line numbering
    220223
    221224\maketitle
    222225
    223226
     227\vspace*{-10pt}
    224228\section{Introduction}
    225229
    226 The C programming language is a foundational technology for modern computing with millions of lines of code implementing everything from hobby projects to commercial operating-systems.
    227 This installation base and the programmers producing it represent a massive software-engineering investment spanning decades and likely to continue for decades more.
    228 The TIOBE~\cite{TIOBE} ranks the top 5 most \emph{popular} programming languages as: Java 15\%, \Textbf{C 12\%}, \Textbf{\CC 5.5\%}, Python 5\%, \Csharp 4.5\% = 42\%, where the next 50 languages are less than 4\% each with a long tail.
    229 The top 3 rankings over the past 30 years are:
     230The C programming language is a foundational technology for modern computing with millions of lines of code implementing everything from hobby projects to commercial operating systems.
     231This installation base and the programmers producing it represent a massive software engineering investment spanning decades and likely to continue for decades more.
     232The TIOBE index~\cite{TIOBE} ranks the top five most \emph{popular} programming languages as Java 15\%, \Textbf{C 12\%}, \Textbf{\CC 5.5\%}, and Python 5\%, \Csharp 4.5\% = 42\%, where the next 50 languages are less than 4\% each with a long tail.
     233The top three rankings over the past 30 years are as follows.
    230234\begin{center}
    231235\setlength{\tabcolsep}{10pt}
    232 \lstDeleteShortInline@%
    233 \begin{tabular}{@{}rccccccc@{}}
    234                 & 2018  & 2013  & 2008  & 2003  & 1998  & 1993  & 1988  \\ \hline
    235 Java    & 1             & 2             & 1             & 1             & 18    & -             & -             \\
     236\fontsize{9bp}{11bp}\selectfont
     237\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     238\begin{tabular}{@{}cccccccc@{}}
     239                & 2018  & 2013  & 2008  & 2003  & 1998  & 1993  & 1988  \\
     240Java    & 1             & 2             & 1             & 1             & 18    & --    & --    \\
    236241\Textbf{C}& \Textbf{2} & \Textbf{1} & \Textbf{2} & \Textbf{2} & \Textbf{1} & \Textbf{1} & \Textbf{1} \\
    237242\CC             & 3             & 4             & 3             & 3             & 2             & 2             & 5             \\
     
    241246Love it or hate it, C is extremely popular, highly used, and one of the few systems languages.
    242247In many cases, \CC is often used solely as a better C.
    243 Nevertheless, C, first standardized almost forty years ago~\cite{ANSI89:C}, lacks many features that make programming in more modern languages safer and more productive.
    244 
    245 \CFA (pronounced ``C-for-all'', and written \CFA or Cforall) is an evolutionary extension of the C programming language that adds modern language-features to C, while maintaining source and runtime compatibility in the familiar C programming model.
    246 The four key design goals for \CFA~\cite{Bilson03} are:
    247 (1) The behaviour of standard C code must remain the same when translated by a \CFA compiler as when translated by a C compiler;
    248 (2) Standard C code must be as fast and as small when translated by a \CFA compiler as when translated by a C compiler;
    249 (3) \CFA code must be at least as portable as standard C code;
    250 (4) Extensions introduced by \CFA must be translated in the most efficient way possible.
    251 These goals ensure existing C code-bases can be converted to \CFA incrementally with minimal effort, and C programmers can productively generate \CFA code without training beyond the features being used.
    252 \CC is used similarly, but has the disadvantages of multiple legacy design-choices that cannot be updated and active divergence of the language model from C, requiring significant effort and training to incrementally add \CC to a C-based project.
    253 
    254 All languages features discussed in this paper are working, except some advanced exception-handling features.
    255 Not discussed in this paper are the integrated concurrency-constructs and user-level threading-library~\cite{Delisle18}.
     248Nevertheless, C, which was first standardized almost 30 years ago~\cite{ANSI89:C}, lacks many features that make programming in more modern languages safer and more productive.
     249
     250\CFA (pronounced ``C for all'' and written \CFA or Cforall) is an evolutionary extension of the C programming language that adds modern language features to C, while maintaining source and runtime compatibility in the familiar C programming model.
     251The four key design goals for \CFA~\cite{Bilson03} are as follows:
     252(1) the behavior of standard C code must remain the same when translated by a \CFA compiler as when translated by a C compiler;
     253(2) the standard C code must be as fast and as small when translated by a \CFA compiler as when translated by a C compiler;
     254(3) the \CFA code must be at least as portable as standard C code;
     255(4) extensions introduced by \CFA must be translated in the most efficient way possible.
     256These goals ensure that the existing C code bases can be converted into \CFA incrementally with minimal effort, and C programmers can productively generate \CFA code without training beyond the features being used.
     257\CC is used similarly but has the disadvantages of multiple legacy design choices that cannot be updated and active divergence of the language model from C, requiring significant effort and training to incrementally add \CC to a C-based project.
     258
     259All language features discussed in this paper are working, except some advanced exception-handling features.
     260Not discussed in this paper are the integrated concurrency constructs and user-level threading library~\cite{Delisle18}.
    256261\CFA is an \emph{open-source} project implemented as a source-to-source translator from \CFA to the gcc-dialect of C~\cite{GCCExtensions}, allowing it to leverage the portability and code optimizations provided by gcc, meeting goals (1)--(3).
    257 Ultimately, a compiler is necessary for advanced features and optimal performance.
    258262% @plg2[9]% cd cfa-cc/src; cloc ArgTweak CodeGen CodeTools Common Concurrency ControlStruct Designators GenPoly InitTweak MakeLibCfa.cc MakeLibCfa.h Parser ResolvExpr SymTab SynTree Tuples driver prelude main.cc
    259263% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     
    270274% SUM:                           223           8203           8263          46479
    271275% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    272 The \CFA translator is 200+ files and 46,000+ lines of code written in C/\CC.
    273 Starting with a translator versus a compiler makes it easier and faster to generate and debug C object-code rather than intermediate, assembler or machine code.
    274 The translator design is based on the \emph{visitor pattern}, allowing multiple passes over the abstract code-tree, which works well for incrementally adding new feature through additional visitor passes.
    275 At the heart of the translator is the type resolver, which handles the polymorphic function/type overload-resolution.
     276The \CFA translator is 200+ files and 46\,000+ lines of code written in C/\CC.
     277A translator versus a compiler makes it easier and faster to generate and debug the C object code rather than the intermediate, assembler, or machine code;
     278ultimately, a compiler is necessary for advanced features and optimal performance.
     279% The translator design is based on the \emph{visitor pattern}, allowing multiple passes over the abstract code-tree, which works well for incrementally adding new feature through additional visitor passes.
     280Two key translator components are expression analysis, determining expression validity and what operations are required for its implementation, and code generation, dealing with multiple forms of overloading, polymorphism, and multiple return values by converting them into the C code for a C compiler that supports none of these features.
     281Details of these components are available in chapters 2 and 3 in the work of Bilson~\cite{Bilson03} and form the base for the current \CFA translator.
    276282% @plg2[8]% cd cfa-cc/src; cloc libcfa
    277283% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     
    288294% SUM:                           100           1895           2785          11763
    289295% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    290 The \CFA runtime system is 100+ files and 11,000+ lines of code, written in \CFA.
     296The \CFA runtime system is 100+ files and 11\,000+ lines of code, written in \CFA.
    291297Currently, the \CFA runtime is the largest \emph{user} of \CFA providing a vehicle to test the language features and implementation.
    292298% @plg2[6]% cd cfa-cc/src; cloc tests examples benchmark
     
    305311% SUM:                           290          13175           3400          27776
    306312% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    307 The \CFA tests are 290+ files and 27,000+ lines of code.
    308 The tests illustrate syntactic and semantic features in \CFA, plus a growing number of runtime benchmarks.
    309 The tests check for correctness and are used for daily regression testing of 3800+ commits.
    310 
    311 Finally, it is impossible to describe a programming language without usages before definitions.
    312 Therefore, syntax and semantics appear before explanations, and related work (Section~\ref{s:RelatedWork}) is deferred until \CFA is presented;
    313 hence, patience is necessary until details are discussed.
    314 
    315 
     313% The \CFA tests are 290+ files and 27,000+ lines of code.
     314% The tests illustrate syntactic and semantic features in \CFA, plus a growing number of runtime benchmarks.
     315% The tests check for correctness and are used for daily regression testing of 3800+ commits.
     316
     317Finally, it is impossible to describe a programming language without usage before definition.
     318Therefore, syntax and semantics appear before explanations;
     319hence, patience is necessary until sufficient details are presented and discussed.
     320Similarly, a detailed comparison with other programming languages is postponed until Section~\ref{s:RelatedWork}.
     321
     322
     323\vspace*{-6pt}
    316324\section{Polymorphic Functions}
    317325
    318 \CFA introduces both ad-hoc and parametric polymorphism to C, with a design originally formalized by Ditchfield~\cite{Ditchfield92}, and first implemented by Bilson~\cite{Bilson03}.
    319 Shortcomings are identified in existing approaches to generic and variadic data types in C-like languages and how these shortcomings are avoided in \CFA.
    320 Specifically, the solution is both reusable and type-checked, as well as conforming to the design goals of \CFA with ergonomic use of existing C abstractions.
     326\CFA introduces both ad hoc and parametric polymorphism to C, with a design originally formalized by Ditchfield~\cite{Ditchfield92} and first implemented by Bilson~\cite{Bilson03}.
     327Shortcomings are identified in the existing approaches to generic and variadic data types in C-like languages and how these shortcomings are avoided in \CFA.
     328Specifically, the solution is both reusable and type checked, as well as conforming to the design goals of \CFA with ergonomic use of existing C abstractions.
    321329The new constructs are empirically compared with C and \CC approaches via performance experiments in Section~\ref{sec:eval}.
    322330
    323331
    324 \subsection{Name Overloading}
     332\vspace*{-6pt}
     333\subsection{Name overloading}
    325334\label{s:NameOverloading}
    326335
    327336\begin{quote}
    328 There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and \emph{naming things} -- Phil Karlton
     337``There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and \emph{naming things}.''---Phil Karlton
    329338\end{quote}
    330339\vspace{-9pt}
    331 C already has a limited form of ad-hoc polymorphism in its basic arithmetic operators, which apply to a variety of different types using identical syntax.
     340C already has a limited form of ad hoc polymorphism in its basic arithmetic operators, which apply to a variety of different types using identical syntax.
    332341\CFA extends the built-in operator overloading by allowing users to define overloads for any function, not just operators, and even any variable;
    333342Section~\ref{sec:libraries} includes a number of examples of how this overloading simplifies \CFA programming relative to C.
    334343Code generation for these overloaded functions and variables is implemented by the usual approach of mangling the identifier names to include a representation of their type, while \CFA decides which overload to apply based on the same ``usual arithmetic conversions'' used in C to disambiguate operator overloads.
    335 As an example:
     344
     345\newpage
    336346\begin{cfa}
    337347int max = 2147483647;                                           $\C[4in]{// (1)}$
     
    339349int max( int a, int b ) { return a < b ? b : a; }  $\C{// (3)}$
    340350double max( double a, double b ) { return a < b ? b : a; }  $\C{// (4)}\CRT$
    341 max( 7, -max );                                         $\C{// uses (3) and (1), by matching int from constant 7}$
     351max( 7, -max );                                         $\C[3in]{// uses (3) and (1), by matching int from constant 7}$
    342352max( max, 3.14 );                                       $\C{// uses (4) and (2), by matching double from constant 3.14}$
    343353max( max, -max );                                       $\C{// ERROR, ambiguous}$
    344 int m = max( max, -max );                       $\C{// uses (3) and (1) twice, by matching return type}$
     354int m = max( max, -max );                       $\C{// uses (3) and (1) twice, by matching return type}\CRT$
    345355\end{cfa}
    346356
     
    348358In some cases, hundreds of names can be reduced to tens, resulting in a significant cognitive reduction.
    349359In the above, the name @max@ has a consistent meaning, and a programmer only needs to remember the single concept: maximum.
    350 To prevent significant ambiguities, \CFA uses the return type in selecting overloads, \eg in the assignment to @m@, the compiler use @m@'s type to unambiguously select the most appropriate call to function @max@ (as does Ada).
     360To prevent significant ambiguities, \CFA uses the return type in selecting overloads, \eg in the assignment to @m@, the compiler uses @m@'s type to unambiguously select the most appropriate call to function @max@ (as does Ada).
    351361As is shown later, there are a number of situations where \CFA takes advantage of available type information to disambiguate, where other programming languages generate ambiguities.
    352362
    353 \Celeven added @_Generic@ expressions~\cite[\S~6.5.1.1]{C11}, which is used with preprocessor macros to provide ad-hoc polymorphism;
     363\Celeven added @_Generic@ expressions (see section~6.5.1.1 of the ISO/IEC 9899~\cite{C11}), which is used with preprocessor macros to provide ad hoc polymorphism;
    354364however, this polymorphism is both functionally and ergonomically inferior to \CFA name overloading.
    355 The macro wrapping the generic expression imposes some limitations;
    356 \eg, it cannot implement the example above, because the variables @max@ are ambiguous with the functions @max@.
     365The macro wrapping the generic expression imposes some limitations, for instance, it cannot implement the example above, because the variables @max@ are ambiguous with the functions @max@.
    357366Ergonomic limitations of @_Generic@ include the necessity to put a fixed list of supported types in a single place and manually dispatch to appropriate overloads, as well as possible namespace pollution from the dispatch functions, which must all have distinct names.
    358 \CFA supports @_Generic@ expressions for backwards compatibility, but it is an unnecessary mechanism. \TODO{actually implement that}
     367\CFA supports @_Generic@ expressions for backward compatibility, but it is an unnecessary mechanism.
    359368
    360369% http://fanf.livejournal.com/144696.html
     
    363372
    364373
    365 \subsection{\texorpdfstring{\protect\lstinline{forall} Functions}{forall Functions}}
     374\vspace*{-10pt}
     375\subsection{\texorpdfstring{\protect\lstinline{forall} functions}{forall functions}}
    366376\label{sec:poly-fns}
    367377
    368 The signature feature of \CFA is parametric-polymorphic functions~\cite{forceone:impl,Cormack90,Duggan96} with functions generalized using a @forall@ clause (giving the language its name):
     378The signature feature of \CFA is parametric-polymorphic functions~\cite{forceone:impl,Cormack90,Duggan96} with functions generalized using a @forall@ clause (giving the language its name).
    369379\begin{cfa}
    370380`forall( otype T )` T identity( T val ) { return val; }
     
    373383This @identity@ function can be applied to any complete \newterm{object type} (or @otype@).
    374384The type variable @T@ is transformed into a set of additional implicit parameters encoding sufficient information about @T@ to create and return a variable of that type.
    375 The \CFA implementation passes the size and alignment of the type represented by an @otype@ parameter, as well as an assignment operator, constructor, copy constructor and destructor.
    376 If this extra information is not needed, \eg for a pointer, the type parameter can be declared as a \newterm{data type} (or @dtype@).
    377 
    378 In \CFA, the polymorphic runtime-cost is spread over each polymorphic call, because more arguments are passed to polymorphic functions;
    379 the experiments in Section~\ref{sec:eval} show this overhead is similar to \CC virtual-function calls.
    380 A design advantage is that, unlike \CC template-functions, \CFA polymorphic-functions are compatible with C \emph{separate compilation}, preventing compilation and code bloat.
    381 
    382 Since bare polymorphic-types provide a restricted set of available operations, \CFA provides a \newterm{type assertion}~\cite[pp.~37-44]{Alphard} mechanism to provide further type information, where type assertions may be variable or function declarations that depend on a polymorphic type-variable.
    383 For example, the function @twice@ can be defined using the \CFA syntax for operator overloading:
     385The \CFA implementation passes the size and alignment of the type represented by an @otype@ parameter, as well as an assignment operator, constructor, copy constructor, and destructor.
     386If this extra information is not needed, for instance, for a pointer, the type parameter can be declared as a \newterm{data type} (or @dtype@).
     387
     388In \CFA, the polymorphic runtime cost is spread over each polymorphic call, because more arguments are passed to polymorphic functions;
     389the experiments in Section~\ref{sec:eval} show this overhead is similar to \CC virtual function calls.
     390A design advantage is that, unlike \CC template functions, \CFA polymorphic functions are compatible with C \emph{separate compilation}, preventing compilation and code bloat.
     391
     392Since bare polymorphic types provide a restricted set of available operations, \CFA provides a \newterm{type assertion}~\cite[pp.~37-44]{Alphard} mechanism to provide further type information, where type assertions may be variable or function declarations that depend on a polymorphic type variable.
     393For example, the function @twice@ can be defined using the \CFA syntax for operator overloading.
    384394\begin{cfa}
    385395forall( otype T `| { T ?+?(T, T); }` ) T twice( T x ) { return x `+` x; }  $\C{// ? denotes operands}$
    386396int val = twice( twice( 3.7 ) );  $\C{// val == 14}$
    387397\end{cfa}
    388 which works for any type @T@ with a matching addition operator.
    389 The polymorphism is achieved by creating a wrapper function for calling @+@ with @T@ bound to @double@, then passing this function to the first call of @twice@.
    390 There is now the option of using the same @twice@ and converting the result to @int@ on assignment, or creating another @twice@ with type parameter @T@ bound to @int@ because \CFA uses the return type~\cite{Cormack81,Baker82,Ada} in its type analysis.
    391 The first approach has a late conversion from @double@ to @int@ on the final assignment, while the second has an early conversion to @int@.
    392 \CFA minimizes the number of conversions and their potential to lose information, so it selects the first approach, which corresponds with C-programmer intuition.
     398This works for any type @T@ with a matching addition operator.
     399The polymorphism is achieved by creating a wrapper function for calling @+@ with the @T@ bound to @double@ and then passing this function to the first call of @twice@.
     400There is now the option of using the same @twice@ and converting the result into @int@ on assignment or creating another @twice@ with the type parameter @T@ bound to @int@ because \CFA uses the return type~\cite{Cormack81,Baker82,Ada} in its type analysis.
     401The first approach has a late conversion from @double@ to @int@ on the final assignment, whereas the second has an early conversion to @int@.
     402\CFA minimizes the number of conversions and their potential to lose information;
     403hence, it selects the first approach, which corresponds with C programmer intuition.
    393404
    394405Crucial to the design of a new programming language are the libraries to access thousands of external software features.
    395 Like \CC, \CFA inherits a massive compatible library-base, where other programming languages must rewrite or provide fragile inter-language communication with C.
    396 A simple example is leveraging the existing type-unsafe (@void *@) C @bsearch@ to binary search a sorted float array:
     406Like \CC, \CFA inherits a massive compatible library base, where other programming languages must rewrite or provide fragile interlanguage communication with C.
     407A simple example is leveraging the existing type-unsafe (@void *@) C @bsearch@ to binary search a sorted float array.
    397408\begin{cfa}
    398409void * bsearch( const void * key, const void * base, size_t nmemb, size_t size,
     
    404415double * val = (double *)bsearch( &key, vals, 10, sizeof(vals[0]), comp ); $\C{// search sorted array}$
    405416\end{cfa}
    406 which can be augmented simply with generalized, type-safe, \CFA-overloaded wrappers:
     417This can be augmented simply with generalized, type-safe, \CFA-overloaded wrappers.
    407418\begin{cfa}
    408419forall( otype T | { int ?<?( T, T ); } ) T * bsearch( T key, const T * arr, size_t size ) {
     
    418429\end{cfa}
    419430The nested function @comp@ provides the hidden interface from typed \CFA to untyped (@void *@) C, plus the cast of the result.
    420 Providing a hidden @comp@ function in \CC is awkward as lambdas do not use C calling-conventions and template declarations cannot appear at block scope.
    421 As well, an alternate kind of return is made available: position versus pointer to found element.
    422 \CC's type-system cannot disambiguate between the two versions of @bsearch@ because it does not use the return type in overload resolution, nor can \CC separately compile a template @bsearch@.
     431% FIX
     432Providing a hidden @comp@ function in \CC is awkward as lambdas do not use C calling conventions and template declarations cannot appear in block scope.
     433In addition, an alternate kind of return is made available: position versus pointer to found element.
     434\CC's type system cannot disambiguate between the two versions of @bsearch@ because it does not use the return type in overload resolution, nor can \CC separately compile a template @bsearch@.
    423435
    424436\CFA has replacement libraries condensing hundreds of existing C functions into tens of \CFA overloaded functions, all without rewriting the actual computations (see Section~\ref{sec:libraries}).
     
    430442\end{cfa}
    431443
    432 Call-site inferencing and nested functions provide a localized form of inheritance.
     444Call site inferencing and nested functions provide a localized form of inheritance.
    433445For example, the \CFA @qsort@ only sorts in ascending order using @<@.
    434 However, it is trivial to locally change this behaviour:
     446However, it is trivial to locally change this behavior.
    435447\begin{cfa}
    436448forall( otype T | { int ?<?( T, T ); } ) void qsort( const T * arr, size_t size ) { /* use C qsort */ }
    437449int main() {
    438         int ?<?( double x, double y ) { return x `>` y; } $\C{// locally override behaviour}$
     450        int ?<?( double x, double y ) { return x `>` y; } $\C{// locally override behavior}$
    439451        qsort( vals, 10 );                                                      $\C{// descending sort}$
    440452}
    441453\end{cfa}
    442454The local version of @?<?@ performs @?>?@ overriding the built-in @?<?@ so it is passed to @qsort@.
    443 Hence, programmers can easily form local environments, adding and modifying appropriate functions, to maximize reuse of other existing functions and types.
    444 
    445 To reduce duplication, it is possible to distribute a group of @forall@ (and storage-class qualifiers) over functions/types, so each block declaration is prefixed by the group (see example in Appendix~\ref{s:CforallStack}).
     455Therefore, programmers can easily form local environments, adding and modifying appropriate functions, to maximize the reuse of other existing functions and types.
     456
     457To reduce duplication, it is possible to distribute a group of @forall@ (and storage-class qualifiers) over functions/types, such that each block declaration is prefixed by the group (see the example in Appendix~\ref{s:CforallStack}).
    446458\begin{cfa}
    447459forall( otype `T` ) {                                                   $\C{// distribution block, add forall qualifier to declarations}$
     
    454466
    455467
    456 \vspace*{-2pt}
    457468\subsection{Traits}
    458469
    459 \CFA provides \newterm{traits} to name a group of type assertions, where the trait name allows specifying the same set of assertions in multiple locations, preventing repetition mistakes at each function declaration:
    460 
     470\CFA provides \newterm{traits} to name a group of type assertions, where the trait name allows specifying the same set of assertions in multiple locations, preventing repetition mistakes at each function declaration.
    461471\begin{cquote}
    462472\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    485495\end{cquote}
    486496
    487 Note, the @sumable@ trait does not include a copy constructor needed for the right side of @?+=?@ and return;
    488 it is provided by @otype@, which is syntactic sugar for the following trait:
     497Note that the @sumable@ trait does not include a copy constructor needed for the right side of @?+=?@ and return;
     498it is provided by @otype@, which is syntactic sugar for the following trait.
    489499\begin{cfa}
    490500trait otype( dtype T | sized(T) ) {  // sized is a pseudo-trait for types with known size and alignment
     
    495505};
    496506\end{cfa}
    497 Given the information provided for an @otype@, variables of polymorphic type can be treated as if they were a complete type: stack-allocatable, default or copy-initialized, assigned, and deleted.
    498 
    499 In summation, the \CFA type-system uses \newterm{nominal typing} for concrete types, matching with the C type-system, and \newterm{structural typing} for polymorphic types.
     507Given the information provided for an @otype@, variables of polymorphic type can be treated as if they were a complete type: stack allocatable, default or copy initialized, assigned, and deleted.
     508
     509In summation, the \CFA type system uses \newterm{nominal typing} for concrete types, matching with the C type system, and \newterm{structural typing} for polymorphic types.
    500510Hence, trait names play no part in type equivalence;
    501511the names are simply macros for a list of polymorphic assertions, which are expanded at usage sites.
    502 Nevertheless, trait names form a logical subtype-hierarchy with @dtype@ at the top, where traits often contain overlapping assertions, \eg operator @+@.
    503 Traits are used like interfaces in Java or abstract base-classes in \CC, but without the nominal inheritance-relationships.
    504 Instead, each polymorphic function (or generic type) defines the structural type needed for its execution (polymorphic type-key), and this key is fulfilled at each call site from the lexical environment, which is similar to Go~\cite{Go} interfaces.
    505 Hence, new lexical scopes and nested functions are used extensively to create local subtypes, as in the @qsort@ example, without having to manage a nominal-inheritance hierarchy.
     512Nevertheless, trait names form a logical subtype hierarchy with @dtype@ at the top, where traits often contain overlapping assertions, \eg operator @+@.
     513Traits are used like interfaces in Java or abstract base classes in \CC, but without the nominal inheritance relationships.
     514Instead, each polymorphic function (or generic type) defines the structural type needed for its execution (polymorphic type key), and this key is fulfilled at each call site from the lexical environment, which is similar to the Go~\cite{Go} interfaces.
     515Hence, new lexical scopes and nested functions are used extensively to create local subtypes, as in the @qsort@ example, without having to manage a nominal inheritance hierarchy.
    506516% (Nominal inheritance can be approximated with traits using marker variables or functions, as is done in Go.)
    507517
     
    534544
    535545A significant shortcoming of standard C is the lack of reusable type-safe abstractions for generic data structures and algorithms.
    536 Broadly speaking, there are three approaches to implement abstract data-structures in C.
    537 One approach is to write bespoke data-structures for each context in which they are needed.
    538 While this approach is flexible and supports integration with the C type-checker and tooling, it is also tedious and error-prone, especially for more complex data structures.
    539 A second approach is to use @void *@-based polymorphism, \eg the C standard-library functions @bsearch@ and @qsort@, which allow reuse of code with common functionality.
    540 However, basing all polymorphism on @void *@ eliminates the type-checker's ability to ensure that argument types are properly matched, often requiring a number of extra function parameters, pointer indirection, and dynamic allocation that is not otherwise needed.
    541 A third approach to generic code is to use preprocessor macros, which does allow the generated code to be both generic and type-checked, but errors may be difficult to interpret.
     546Broadly speaking, there are three approaches to implement abstract data structures in C.
     547One approach is to write bespoke data structures for each context in which they are needed.
     548While this approach is flexible and supports integration with the C type checker and tooling, it is also tedious and error prone, especially for more complex data structures.
     549A second approach is to use @void *@-based polymorphism, \eg the C standard library functions @bsearch@ and @qsort@, which allow for the reuse of code with common functionality.
     550However, basing all polymorphism on @void *@ eliminates the type checker's ability to ensure that argument types are properly matched, often requiring a number of extra function parameters, pointer indirection, and dynamic allocation that is otherwise not needed.
     551A third approach to generic code is to use preprocessor macros, which does allow the generated code to be both generic and type checked, but errors may be difficult to interpret.
    542552Furthermore, writing and using preprocessor macros is unnatural and inflexible.
    543553
    544 \CC, Java, and other languages use \newterm{generic types} to produce type-safe abstract data-types.
    545 \CFA generic types integrate efficiently and naturally with the existing polymorphic functions, while retaining backwards compatibility with C and providing separate compilation.
     554\CC, Java, and other languages use \newterm{generic types} to produce type-safe abstract data types.
     555\CFA generic types integrate efficiently and naturally with the existing polymorphic functions, while retaining backward compatibility with C and providing separate compilation.
    546556However, for known concrete parameters, the generic-type definition can be inlined, like \CC templates.
    547557
    548 A generic type can be declared by placing a @forall@ specifier on a @struct@ or @union@ declaration, and instantiated using a parenthesized list of types after the type name:
     558A generic type can be declared by placing a @forall@ specifier on a @struct@ or @union@ declaration and instantiated using a parenthesized list of types after the type name.
    549559\begin{cquote}
    550560\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    574584
    575585\CFA classifies generic types as either \newterm{concrete} or \newterm{dynamic}.
    576 Concrete types have a fixed memory layout regardless of type parameters, while dynamic types vary in memory layout depending on their type parameters.
     586Concrete types have a fixed memory layout regardless of type parameters, whereas dynamic types vary in memory layout depending on their type parameters.
    577587A \newterm{dtype-static} type has polymorphic parameters but is still concrete.
    578588Polymorphic pointers are an example of dtype-static types;
    579 given some type variable @T@, @T@ is a polymorphic type, as is @T *@, but @T *@ has a fixed size and can therefore be represented by @void *@ in code generation.
    580 
    581 \CFA generic types also allow checked argument-constraints.
    582 For example, the following declaration of a sorted set-type ensures the set key supports equality and relational comparison:
     589given some type variable @T@, @T@ is a polymorphic type, as is @T *@, but @T *@ has a fixed size and can, therefore, be represented by @void *@ in code generation.
     590
     591\CFA generic types also allow checked argument constraints.
     592For example, the following declaration of a sorted set type ensures the set key supports equality and relational comparison.
    583593\begin{cfa}
    584594forall( otype Key | { _Bool ?==?(Key, Key); _Bool ?<?(Key, Key); } ) struct sorted_set;
     
    586596
    587597
    588 \subsection{Concrete Generic-Types}
    589 
    590 The \CFA translator template-expands concrete generic-types into new structure types, affording maximal inlining.
    591 To enable inter-operation among equivalent instantiations of a generic type, the translator saves the set of instantiations currently in scope and reuses the generated structure declarations where appropriate.
    592 A function declaration that accepts or returns a concrete generic-type produces a declaration for the instantiated structure in the same scope, which all callers may reuse.
    593 For example, the concrete instantiation for @pair( const char *, int )@ is:
     598\subsection{Concrete generic types}
     599
     600The \CFA translator template expands concrete generic types into new structure types, affording maximal inlining.
     601To enable interoperation among equivalent instantiations of a generic type, the translator saves the set of instantiations currently in scope and reuses the generated structure declarations where appropriate.
     602A function declaration that accepts or returns a concrete generic type produces a declaration for the instantiated structure in the same scope, which all callers may reuse.
     603For example, the concrete instantiation for @pair( const char *, int )@ is
    594604\begin{cfa}
    595605struct _pair_conc0 {
     
    598608\end{cfa}
    599609
    600 A concrete generic-type with dtype-static parameters is also expanded to a structure type, but this type is used for all matching instantiations.
    601 In the above example, the @pair( F *, T * )@ parameter to @value@ is such a type; its expansion is below and it is used as the type of the variables @q@ and @r@ as well, with casts for member access where appropriate:
     610A concrete generic type with dtype-static parameters is also expanded to a structure type, but this type is used for all matching instantiations.
     611In the above example, the @pair( F *, T * )@ parameter to @value@ is such a type; its expansion is below, and it is used as the type of the variables @q@ and @r@ as well, with casts for member access where appropriate.
    602612\begin{cfa}
    603613struct _pair_conc1 {
     
    607617
    608618
    609 \subsection{Dynamic Generic-Types}
    610 
    611 Though \CFA implements concrete generic-types efficiently, it also has a fully general system for dynamic generic types.
    612 As mentioned in Section~\ref{sec:poly-fns}, @otype@ function parameters (in fact all @sized@ polymorphic parameters) come with implicit size and alignment parameters provided by the caller.
    613 Dynamic generic-types also have an \newterm{offset array} containing structure-member offsets.
    614 A dynamic generic-@union@ needs no such offset array, as all members are at offset 0, but size and alignment are still necessary.
    615 Access to members of a dynamic structure is provided at runtime via base-displacement addressing with the structure pointer and the member offset (similar to the @offsetof@ macro), moving a compile-time offset calculation to runtime.
     619\subsection{Dynamic generic types}
     620
     621Though \CFA implements concrete generic types efficiently, it also has a fully general system for dynamic generic types.
     622As mentioned in Section~\ref{sec:poly-fns}, @otype@ function parameters (in fact, all @sized@ polymorphic parameters) come with implicit size and alignment parameters provided by the caller.
     623Dynamic generic types also have an \newterm{offset array} containing structure-member offsets.
     624A dynamic generic @union@ needs no such offset array, as all members are at offset 0, but size and alignment are still necessary.
     625Access to members of a dynamic structure is provided at runtime via base displacement addressing
     626% FIX
     627using the structure pointer and the member offset (similar to the @offsetof@ macro), moving a compile-time offset calculation to runtime.
    616628
    617629The offset arrays are statically generated where possible.
    618 If a dynamic generic-type is declared to be passed or returned by value from a polymorphic function, the translator can safely assume the generic type is complete (\ie has a known layout) at any call-site, and the offset array is passed from the caller;
     630If a dynamic generic type is declared to be passed or returned by value from a polymorphic function, the translator can safely assume that the generic type is complete (\ie has a known layout) at any call site, and the offset array is passed from the caller;
    619631if the generic type is concrete at the call site, the elements of this offset array can even be statically generated using the C @offsetof@ macro.
    620 As an example, the body of the second @value@ function is implemented as:
     632As an example, the body of the second @value@ function is implemented as
    621633\begin{cfa}
    622634_assign_T( _retval, p + _offsetof_pair[1] ); $\C{// return *p.second}$
    623635\end{cfa}
    624 @_assign_T@ is passed in as an implicit parameter from @otype T@, and takes two @T *@ (@void *@ in the generated code), a destination and a source; @_retval@ is the pointer to a caller-allocated buffer for the return value, the usual \CFA method to handle dynamically-sized return types.
    625 @_offsetof_pair@ is the offset array passed into @value@; this array is generated at the call site as:
     636\newpage
     637\noindent
     638Here, @_assign_T@ is passed in as an implicit parameter from @otype T@, and takes two @T *@ (@void *@ in the generated code), a destination and a source, and @_retval@ is the pointer to a caller-allocated buffer for the return value, the usual \CFA method to handle dynamically sized return types.
     639@_offsetof_pair@ is the offset array passed into @value@;
     640this array is generated at the call site as
    626641\begin{cfa}
    627642size_t _offsetof_pair[] = { offsetof( _pair_conc0, first ), offsetof( _pair_conc0, second ) }
    628643\end{cfa}
    629644
    630 In some cases the offset arrays cannot be statically generated.
    631 For instance, modularity is generally provided in C by including an opaque forward-declaration of a structure and associated accessor and mutator functions in a header file, with the actual implementations in a separately-compiled @.c@ file.
    632 \CFA supports this pattern for generic types, but the caller does not know the actual layout or size of the dynamic generic-type, and only holds it by a pointer.
     645In some cases, the offset arrays cannot be statically generated.
     646For instance, modularity is generally provided in C by including an opaque forward declaration of a structure and associated accessor and mutator functions in a header file, with the actual implementations in a separately compiled @.c@ file.
     647\CFA supports this pattern for generic types, but the caller does not know the actual layout or size of the dynamic generic type and only holds it by a pointer.
    633648The \CFA translator automatically generates \newterm{layout functions} for cases where the size, alignment, and offset array of a generic struct cannot be passed into a function from that function's caller.
    634649These layout functions take as arguments pointers to size and alignment variables and a caller-allocated array of member offsets, as well as the size and alignment of all @sized@ parameters to the generic structure (un@sized@ parameters are forbidden from being used in a context that affects layout).
     
    640655Whether a type is concrete, dtype-static, or dynamic is decided solely on the @forall@'s type parameters.
    641656This design allows opaque forward declarations of generic types, \eg @forall(otype T)@ @struct Box@ -- like in C, all uses of @Box(T)@ can be separately compiled, and callers from other translation units know the proper calling conventions to use.
    642 If the definition of a structure type is included in deciding whether a generic type is dynamic or concrete, some further types may be recognized as dtype-static (\eg @forall(otype T)@ @struct unique_ptr { T * p }@ does not depend on @T@ for its layout, but the existence of an @otype@ parameter means that it \emph{could}.), but preserving separate compilation (and the associated C compatibility) in the existing design is judged to be an appropriate trade-off.
     657If the definition of a structure type is included in deciding whether a generic type is dynamic or concrete, some further types may be recognized as dtype-static (\eg @forall(otype T)@ @struct unique_ptr { T * p }@ does not depend on @T@ for its layout, but the existence of an @otype@ parameter means that it \emph{could}.);
     658however, preserving separate compilation (and the associated C compatibility) in the existing design is judged to be an appropriate trade-off.
    643659
    644660
     
    653669}
    654670\end{cfa}
    655 Since @pair( T *, T * )@ is a concrete type, there are no implicit parameters passed to @lexcmp@, so the generated code is identical to a function written in standard C using @void *@, yet the \CFA version is type-checked to ensure the members of both pairs and the arguments to the comparison function match in type.
    656 
    657 Another useful pattern enabled by reused dtype-static type instantiations is zero-cost \newterm{tag-structures}.
    658 Sometimes information is only used for type-checking and can be omitted at runtime, \eg:
     671Since @pair( T *, T * )@ is a concrete type, there are no implicit parameters passed to @lexcmp@;
     672hence, the generated code is identical to a function written in standard C using @void *@, yet the \CFA version is type checked to ensure members of both pairs and arguments to the comparison function match in type.
     673
     674Another useful pattern enabled by reused dtype-static type instantiations is zero-cost \newterm{tag structures}.
     675Sometimes, information is only used for type checking and can be omitted at runtime.
    659676\begin{cquote}
    660677\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    675692                                                        half_marathon;
    676693scalar(litres) two_pools = pool + pool;
    677 `marathon + pool;`      // ERROR, mismatched types
     694`marathon + pool;` // ERROR, mismatched types
    678695\end{cfa}
    679696\end{tabular}
    680697\lstMakeShortInline@%
    681698\end{cquote}
    682 @scalar@ is a dtype-static type, so all uses have a single structure definition, containing @unsigned long@, and can share the same implementations of common functions like @?+?@.
     699Here, @scalar@ is a dtype-static type;
     700hence, all uses have a single structure definition, containing @unsigned long@, and can share the same implementations of common functions like @?+?@.
    683701These implementations may even be separately compiled, unlike \CC template functions.
    684 However, the \CFA type-checker ensures matching types are used by all calls to @?+?@, preventing nonsensical computations like adding a length to a volume.
     702However, the \CFA type checker ensures matching types are used by all calls to @?+?@, preventing nonsensical computations like adding a length to a volume.
    685703
    686704
     
    688706\label{sec:tuples}
    689707
    690 In many languages, functions can return at most one value;
     708In many languages, functions can return, at most, one value;
    691709however, many operations have multiple outcomes, some exceptional.
    692710Consider C's @div@ and @remquo@ functions, which return the quotient and remainder for a division of integer and float values, respectively.
     
    699717double r = remquo( 13.5, 5.2, &q );                     $\C{// return remainder, alias quotient}$
    700718\end{cfa}
    701 @div@ aggregates the quotient/remainder in a structure, while @remquo@ aliases a parameter to an argument.
     719Here, @div@ aggregates the quotient/remainder in a structure, whereas @remquo@ aliases a parameter to an argument.
    702720Both approaches are awkward.
    703 Alternatively, a programming language can directly support returning multiple values, \eg in \CFA:
     721% FIX
     722Alternatively, a programming language can directly support returning multiple values, \eg \CFA provides the following.
    704723\begin{cfa}
    705724[ int, int ] div( int num, int den );           $\C{// return two integers}$
     
    712731This approach is straightforward to understand and use;
    713732therefore, why do few programming languages support this obvious feature or provide it awkwardly?
    714 To answer, there are complex consequences that cascade through multiple aspects of the language, especially the type-system.
    715 This section show these consequences and how \CFA handles them.
     733To answer, there are complex consequences that cascade through multiple aspects of the language, especially the type system.
     734This section shows these consequences and how \CFA handles them.
    716735
    717736
    718737\subsection{Tuple Expressions}
    719738
    720 The addition of multiple-return-value functions (MRVF) are \emph{useless} without a syntax for accepting multiple values at the call-site.
     739The addition of multiple-return-value functions (MRVFs) is \emph{useless} without a syntax for accepting multiple values at the call site.
    721740The simplest mechanism for capturing the return values is variable assignment, allowing the values to be retrieved directly.
    722741As such, \CFA allows assigning multiple values from a function into multiple variables, using a square-bracketed list of lvalue expressions (as above), called a \newterm{tuple}.
    723742
    724 However, functions also use \newterm{composition} (nested calls), with the direct consequence that MRVFs must also support composition to be orthogonal with single-returning-value functions (SRVF), \eg:
     743However, functions also use \newterm{composition} (nested calls), with the direct consequence that MRVFs must also support composition to be orthogonal with single-returning-value functions (SRVFs), \eg, \CFA provides the following.
    725744\begin{cfa}
    726745printf( "%d %d\n", div( 13, 5 ) );                      $\C{// return values seperated into arguments}$
    727746\end{cfa}
    728747Here, the values returned by @div@ are composed with the call to @printf@ by flattening the tuple into separate arguments.
    729 However, the \CFA type-system must support significantly more complex composition:
     748However, the \CFA type-system must support significantly more complex composition.
    730749\begin{cfa}
    731750[ int, int ] foo$\(_1\)$( int );                        $\C{// overloaded foo functions}$
     
    734753`bar`( foo( 3 ), foo( 3 ) );
    735754\end{cfa}
    736 The type-resolver only has the tuple return-types to resolve the call to @bar@ as the @foo@ parameters are identical, which involves unifying the possible @foo@ functions with @bar@'s parameter list.
    737 No combination of @foo@s are an exact match with @bar@'s parameters, so the resolver applies C conversions.
     755The type resolver only has the tuple return types to resolve the call to @bar@ as the @foo@ parameters are identical, which involves unifying the possible @foo@ functions with @bar@'s parameter list.
     756No combination of @foo@s is an exact match with @bar@'s parameters;
     757thus, the resolver applies C conversions.
     758% FIX
    738759The minimal cost is @bar( foo@$_1$@( 3 ), foo@$_2$@( 3 ) )@, giving (@int@, {\color{ForestGreen}@int@}, @double@) to (@int@, {\color{ForestGreen}@double@}, @double@) with one {\color{ForestGreen}safe} (widening) conversion from @int@ to @double@ versus ({\color{red}@double@}, {\color{ForestGreen}@int@}, {\color{ForestGreen}@int@}) to ({\color{red}@int@}, {\color{ForestGreen}@double@}, {\color{ForestGreen}@double@}) with one {\color{red}unsafe} (narrowing) conversion from @double@ to @int@ and two safe conversions.
    739760
    740761
    741 \subsection{Tuple Variables}
     762\subsection{Tuple variables}
    742763
    743764An important observation from function composition is that new variable names are not required to initialize parameters from an MRVF.
    744 \CFA also allows declaration of tuple variables that can be initialized from an MRVF, since it can be awkward to declare multiple variables of different types, \eg:
     765\CFA also allows declaration of tuple variables that can be initialized from an MRVF, since it can be awkward to declare multiple variables of different types.
     766\newpage
    745767\begin{cfa}
    746768[ int, int ] qr = div( 13, 5 );                         $\C{// tuple-variable declaration and initialization}$
    747769[ double, double ] qr = div( 13.5, 5.2 );
    748770\end{cfa}
    749 where the tuple variable-name serves the same purpose as the parameter name(s).
     771Here, the tuple variable name serves the same purpose as the parameter name(s).
    750772Tuple variables can be composed of any types, except for array types, since array sizes are generally unknown in C.
    751773
    752 One way to access the tuple-variable components is with assignment or composition:
     774One way to access the tuple variable components is with assignment or composition.
    753775\begin{cfa}
    754776[ q, r ] = qr;                                                          $\C{// access tuple-variable components}$
    755777printf( "%d %d\n", qr );
    756778\end{cfa}
    757 \CFA also supports \newterm{tuple indexing} to access single components of a tuple expression:
     779\CFA also supports \newterm{tuple indexing} to access single components of a tuple expression.
    758780\begin{cfa}
    759781[int, int] * p = &qr;                                           $\C{// tuple pointer}$
     
    766788
    767789
    768 \subsection{Flattening and Restructuring}
     790\subsection{Flattening and restructuring}
    769791
    770792In function call contexts, tuples support implicit flattening and restructuring conversions.
    771793Tuple flattening recursively expands a tuple into the list of its basic components.
    772 Tuple structuring packages a list of expressions into a value of tuple type, \eg:
     794Tuple structuring packages a list of expressions into a value of tuple type.
    773795\begin{cfa}
    774796int f( int, int );
     
    781803h( x, y );                                                                      $\C{// flatten and structure}$
    782804\end{cfa}
    783 In the call to @f@, @x@ is implicitly flattened so the components of @x@ are passed as the two arguments.
     805In the call to @f@, @x@ is implicitly flattened so the components of @x@ are passed as two arguments.
    784806In the call to @g@, the values @y@ and @10@ are structured into a single argument of type @[int, int]@ to match the parameter type of @g@.
    785807Finally, in the call to @h@, @x@ is flattened to yield an argument list of length 3, of which the first component of @x@ is passed as the first parameter of @h@, and the second component of @x@ and @y@ are structured into the second argument of type @[int, int]@.
    786 The flexible structure of tuples permits a simple and expressive function call syntax to work seamlessly with both SRVF and MRVF, and with any number of arguments of arbitrarily complex structure.
    787 
    788 
    789 \subsection{Tuple Assignment}
    790 
     808The flexible structure of tuples permits a simple and expressive function call syntax to work seamlessly with both SRVFs and MRVFs with any number of arguments of arbitrarily complex structure.
     809
     810
     811\subsection{Tuple assignment}
     812
     813\enlargethispage{-10pt}
    791814An assignment where the left side is a tuple type is called \newterm{tuple assignment}.
    792 There are two kinds of tuple assignment depending on whether the right side of the assignment operator has a tuple type or a non-tuple type, called \newterm{multiple} and \newterm{mass assignment}, respectively.
     815There are two kinds of tuple assignment depending on whether the right side of the assignment operator has a tuple type or a nontuple type, called \newterm{multiple} and \newterm{mass assignment}, respectively.
    793816\begin{cfa}
    794817int x = 10;
     
    800823[y, x] = 3.14;                                                          $\C{// mass assignment}$
    801824\end{cfa}
    802 Both kinds of tuple assignment have parallel semantics, so that each value on the left and right side is evaluated before any assignments occur.
     825Both kinds of tuple assignment have parallel semantics, so that each value on the left and right sides is evaluated before any assignments occur.
    803826As a result, it is possible to swap the values in two variables without explicitly creating any temporary variables or calling a function, \eg, @[x, y] = [y, x]@.
    804827This semantics means mass assignment differs from C cascading assignment (\eg @a = b = c@) in that conversions are applied in each individual assignment, which prevents data loss from the chain of conversions that can happen during a cascading assignment.
    805 For example, @[y, x] = 3.14@ performs the assignments @y = 3.14@ and @x = 3.14@, yielding @y == 3.14@ and @x == 3@;
    806 whereas, C cascading assignment @y = x = 3.14@ performs the assignments @x = 3.14@ and @y = x@, yielding @3@ in @y@ and @x@.
     828For example, @[y, x] = 3.14@ performs the assignments @y = 3.14@ and @x = 3.14@, yielding @y == 3.14@ and @x == 3@, whereas C cascading assignment @y = x = 3.14@ performs the assignments @x = 3.14@ and @y = x@, yielding @3@ in @y@ and @x@.
    807829Finally, tuple assignment is an expression where the result type is the type of the left-hand side of the assignment, just like all other assignment expressions in C.
    808 This example shows mass, multiple, and cascading assignment used in one expression:
     830This example shows mass, multiple, and cascading assignment used in one expression.
    809831\begin{cfa}
    810832[void] f( [int, int] );
     
    813835
    814836
    815 \subsection{Member Access}
    816 
    817 It is also possible to access multiple members from a single expression using a \newterm{member-access}.
    818 The result is a single tuple-valued expression whose type is the tuple of the types of the members, \eg:
     837\subsection{Member access}
     838
     839It is also possible to access multiple members from a single expression using a \newterm{member access}.
     840The result is a single tuple-valued expression whose type is the tuple of the types of the members.
    819841\begin{cfa}
    820842struct S { int x; double y; char * z; } s;
     
    830852[int, int, int] y = x.[2, 0, 2];                        $\C{// duplicate: [y.0, y.1, y.2] = [x.2, x.0.x.2]}$
    831853\end{cfa}
    832 It is also possible for a member access to contain other member accesses, \eg:
     854It is also possible for a member access to contain other member accesses.
    833855\begin{cfa}
    834856struct A { double i; int j; };
     
    897919
    898920Tuples also integrate with \CFA polymorphism as a kind of generic type.
    899 Due to the implicit flattening and structuring conversions involved in argument passing, @otype@ and @dtype@ parameters are restricted to matching only with non-tuple types, \eg:
     921Due to the implicit flattening and structuring conversions involved in argument passing, @otype@ and @dtype@ parameters are restricted to matching only with nontuple types.
    900922\begin{cfa}
    901923forall( otype T, dtype U ) void f( T x, U * y );
    902924f( [5, "hello"] );
    903925\end{cfa}
    904 where @[5, "hello"]@ is flattened, giving argument list @5, "hello"@, and @T@ binds to @int@ and @U@ binds to @const char@.
     926Here, @[5, "hello"]@ is flattened, giving argument list @5, "hello"@, and @T@ binds to @int@ and @U@ binds to @const char@.
    905927Tuples, however, may contain polymorphic components.
    906928For example, a plus operator can be written to sum two triples.
     
    920942g( 5, 10.21 );
    921943\end{cfa}
     944\newpage
    922945Hence, function parameter and return lists are flattened for the purposes of type unification allowing the example to pass expression resolution.
    923946This relaxation is possible by extending the thunk scheme described by Bilson~\cite{Bilson03}.
     
    930953
    931954
    932 \subsection{Variadic Tuples}
     955\subsection{Variadic tuples}
    933956\label{sec:variadic-tuples}
    934957
    935 To define variadic functions, \CFA adds a new kind of type parameter, @ttype@ (tuple type).
    936 Matching against a @ttype@ parameter consumes all remaining argument components and packages them into a tuple, binding to the resulting tuple of types.
    937 In a given parameter list, there must be at most one @ttype@ parameter that occurs last, which matches normal variadic semantics, with a strong feeling of similarity to \CCeleven variadic templates.
     958To define variadic functions, \CFA adds a new kind of type parameter, \ie @ttype@ (tuple type).
     959Matching against a @ttype@ parameter consumes all the remaining argument components and packages them into a tuple, binding to the resulting tuple of types.
     960In a given parameter list, there must be, at most, one @ttype@ parameter that occurs last, which matches normal variadic semantics, with a strong feeling of similarity to \CCeleven variadic templates.
    938961As such, @ttype@ variables are also called \newterm{argument packs}.
    939962
     
    941964Since nothing is known about a parameter pack by default, assertion parameters are key to doing anything meaningful.
    942965Unlike variadic templates, @ttype@ polymorphic functions can be separately compiled.
    943 For example, a generalized @sum@ function:
     966For example, the following is a generalized @sum@ function.
    944967\begin{cfa}
    945968int sum$\(_0\)$() { return 0; }
     
    950973\end{cfa}
    951974Since @sum@\(_0\) does not accept any arguments, it is not a valid candidate function for the call @sum(10, 20, 30)@.
    952 In order to call @sum@\(_1\), @10@ is matched with @x@, and the argument resolution moves on to the argument pack @rest@, which consumes the remainder of the argument list and @Params@ is bound to @[20, 30]@.
     975In order to call @sum@\(_1\), @10@ is matched with @x@, and the argument resolution moves on to the argument pack @rest@, which consumes the remainder of the argument list, and @Params@ is bound to @[20, 30]@.
    953976The process continues until @Params@ is bound to @[]@, requiring an assertion @int sum()@, which matches @sum@\(_0\) and terminates the recursion.
    954977Effectively, this algorithm traces as @sum(10, 20, 30)@ $\rightarrow$ @10 + sum(20, 30)@ $\rightarrow$ @10 + (20 + sum(30))@ $\rightarrow$ @10 + (20 + (30 + sum()))@ $\rightarrow$ @10 + (20 + (30 + 0))@.
    955978
    956 It is reasonable to take the @sum@ function a step further to enforce a minimum number of arguments:
     979It is reasonable to take the @sum@ function a step further to enforce a minimum number of arguments.
    957980\begin{cfa}
    958981int sum( int x, int y ) { return x + y; }
     
    961984}
    962985\end{cfa}
    963 One more step permits the summation of any sumable type with all arguments of the same type:
     986One more step permits the summation of any sumable type with all arguments of the same type.
    964987\begin{cfa}
    965988trait sumable( otype T ) {
     
    9901013This example showcases a variadic-template-like decomposition of the provided argument list.
    9911014The individual @print@ functions allow printing a single element of a type.
    992 The polymorphic @print@ allows printing any list of types, where as each individual type has a @print@ function.
     1015The polymorphic @print@ allows printing any list of types, where each individual type has a @print@ function.
    9931016The individual print functions can be used to build up more complicated @print@ functions, such as @S@, which cannot be done with @printf@ in C.
    9941017This mechanism is used to seamlessly print tuples in the \CFA I/O library (see Section~\ref{s:IOLibrary}).
    9951018
    9961019Finally, it is possible to use @ttype@ polymorphism to provide arbitrary argument forwarding functions.
    997 For example, it is possible to write @new@ as a library function:
     1020For example, it is possible to write @new@ as a library function.
    9981021\begin{cfa}
    9991022forall( otype R, otype S ) void ?{}( pair(R, S) *, R, S );
     
    10041027\end{cfa}
    10051028The @new@ function provides the combination of type-safe @malloc@ with a \CFA constructor call, making it impossible to forget constructing dynamically allocated objects.
    1006 This function provides the type-safety of @new@ in \CC, without the need to specify the allocated type again, thanks to return-type inference.
     1029This function provides the type safety of @new@ in \CC, without the need to specify the allocated type again, due to return-type inference.
    10071030
    10081031
     
    10101033
    10111034Tuples are implemented in the \CFA translator via a transformation into \newterm{generic types}.
    1012 For each $N$, the first time an $N$-tuple is seen in a scope a generic type with $N$ type parameters is generated, \eg:
     1035For each $N$, the first time an $N$-tuple is seen in a scope, a generic type with $N$ type parameters is generated.
     1036For example, the following
    10131037\begin{cfa}
    10141038[int, int] f() {
     
    10171041}
    10181042\end{cfa}
    1019 is transformed into:
     1043is transformed into
    10201044\begin{cfa}
    10211045forall( dtype T0, dtype T1 | sized(T0) | sized(T1) ) struct _tuple2 {
     
    10831107
    10841108The various kinds of tuple assignment, constructors, and destructors generate GNU C statement expressions.
    1085 A variable is generated to store the value produced by a statement expression, since its members may need to be constructed with a non-trivial constructor and it may need to be referred to multiple time, \eg in a unique expression.
     1109A variable is generated to store the value produced by a statement expression, since its members may need to be constructed with a nontrivial constructor and it may need to be referred to multiple time, \eg in a unique expression.
    10861110The use of statement expressions allows the translator to arbitrarily generate additional temporary variables as needed, but binds the implementation to a non-standard extension of the C language.
    10871111However, there are other places where the \CFA translator makes use of GNU C extensions, such as its use of nested functions, so this restriction is not new.
     
    10911115\section{Control Structures}
    10921116
    1093 \CFA identifies inconsistent, problematic, and missing control structures in C, and extends, modifies, and adds control structures to increase functionality and safety.
    1094 
    1095 
    1096 \subsection{\texorpdfstring{\protect\lstinline{if} Statement}{if Statement}}
    1097 
    1098 The @if@ expression allows declarations, similar to @for@ declaration expression:
     1117\CFA identifies inconsistent, problematic, and missing control structures in C, as well as extends, modifies, and adds control structures to increase functionality and safety.
     1118
     1119
     1120\subsection{\texorpdfstring{\protect\lstinline@if@ statement}{if statement}}
     1121
     1122The @if@ expression allows declarations, similar to the @for@ declaration expression.
    10991123\begin{cfa}
    11001124if ( int x = f() ) ...                                          $\C{// x != 0}$
     
    11031127\end{cfa}
    11041128Unless a relational expression is specified, each variable is compared not equal to 0, which is the standard semantics for the @if@ expression, and the results are combined using the logical @&&@ operator.\footnote{\CC only provides a single declaration always compared not equal to 0.}
    1105 The scope of the declaration(s) is local to the @if@ statement but exist within both the ``then'' and ``else'' clauses.
    1106 
    1107 
    1108 \subsection{\texorpdfstring{\protect\lstinline{switch} Statement}{switch Statement}}
     1129The scope of the declaration(s) is local to the @if@ statement but exists within both the ``then'' and ``else'' clauses.
     1130
     1131
     1132\subsection{\texorpdfstring{\protect\lstinline@switch@ statement}{switch statement}}
    11091133
    11101134There are a number of deficiencies with the C @switch@ statements: enumerating @case@ lists, placement of @case@ clauses, scope of the switch body, and fall through between case clauses.
    11111135
    1112 C has no shorthand for specifying a list of case values, whether the list is non-contiguous or contiguous\footnote{C provides this mechanism via fall through.}.
    1113 \CFA provides a shorthand for a non-contiguous list:
     1136C has no shorthand for specifying a list of case values, whether the list is noncontiguous or contiguous\footnote{C provides this mechanism via fall through.}.
     1137\CFA provides a shorthand for a noncontiguous list:
    11141138\begin{cquote}
    11151139\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    11261150\lstMakeShortInline@%
    11271151\end{cquote}
    1128 for a contiguous list:\footnote{gcc has the same mechanism but awkward syntax, \lstinline@2 ...42@, as a space is required after a number, otherwise the first period is a decimal point.}
     1152for a contiguous list:\footnote{gcc has the same mechanism but awkward syntax, \lstinline@2 ...42@, as a space is required after a number;
     1153otherwise, the first period is a decimal point.}
    11291154\begin{cquote}
    11301155\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    11571182}
    11581183\end{cfa}
    1159 \CFA precludes this form of transfer \emph{into} a control structure because it causes undefined behaviour, especially with respect to missed initialization, and provides very limited functionality.
    1160 
    1161 C allows placement of declaration within the @switch@ body and unreachable code at the start, resulting in undefined behaviour:
     1184\CFA precludes this form of transfer \emph{into} a control structure because it causes an undefined behavior, especially with respect to missed initialization, and provides very limited functionality.
     1185
     1186C allows placement of declaration within the @switch@ body and unreachable code at the start, resulting in an undefined behavior.
    11621187\begin{cfa}
    11631188switch ( x ) {
     
    11761201
    11771202C @switch@ provides multiple entry points into the statement body, but once an entry point is selected, control continues across \emph{all} @case@ clauses until the end of the @switch@ body, called \newterm{fall through};
    1178 @case@ clauses are made disjoint by the @break@ statement.
     1203@case@ clauses are made disjoint by the @break@
     1204\newpage
     1205\noindent
     1206statement.
    11791207While fall through \emph{is} a useful form of control flow, it does not match well with programmer intuition, resulting in errors from missing @break@ statements.
    1180 For backwards compatibility, \CFA provides a \emph{new} control structure, @choose@, which mimics @switch@, but reverses the meaning of fall through (see Figure~\ref{f:ChooseSwitchStatements}), similar to Go.
     1208For backward compatibility, \CFA provides a \emph{new} control structure, \ie @choose@, which mimics @switch@, but reverses the meaning of fall through (see Figure~\ref{f:ChooseSwitchStatements}), similar to Go.
    11811209
    11821210\begin{figure}
    11831211\centering
     1212\fontsize{9bp}{11bp}\selectfont
    11841213\lstDeleteShortInline@%
    11851214\begin{tabular}{@{}l|@{\hspace{\parindentlnth}}l@{}}
     
    12181247\end{tabular}
    12191248\lstMakeShortInline@%
    1220 \caption{\lstinline|choose| versus \lstinline|switch| Statements}
     1249\caption{\lstinline|choose| versus \lstinline|switch| statements}
    12211250\label{f:ChooseSwitchStatements}
     1251\vspace*{-11pt}
    12221252\end{figure}
    12231253
    1224 Finally, Figure~\ref{f:FallthroughStatement} shows @fallthrough@ may appear in contexts other than terminating a @case@ clause, and have an explicit transfer label allowing separate cases but common final-code for a set of cases.
     1254Finally, Figure~\ref{f:FallthroughStatement} shows @fallthrough@ may appear in contexts other than terminating a @case@ clause and have an explicit transfer label allowing separate cases but common final code for a set of cases.
    12251255The target label must be below the @fallthrough@ and may not be nested in a control structure, \ie @fallthrough@ cannot form a loop, and the target label must be at the same or higher level as the containing @case@ clause and located at the same level as a @case@ clause;
    12261256the target label may be case @default@, but only associated with the current @switch@/@choose@ statement.
     
    12281258\begin{figure}
    12291259\centering
     1260\fontsize{9bp}{11bp}\selectfont
    12301261\lstDeleteShortInline@%
    12311262\begin{tabular}{@{}l|@{\hspace{\parindentlnth}}l@{}}
     
    12561287\end{tabular}
    12571288\lstMakeShortInline@%
    1258 \caption{\lstinline|fallthrough| Statement}
     1289\caption{\lstinline|fallthrough| statement}
    12591290\label{f:FallthroughStatement}
     1291\vspace*{-11pt}
    12601292\end{figure}
    12611293
    12621294
    1263 \subsection{\texorpdfstring{Labelled \protect\lstinline{continue} / \protect\lstinline{break}}{Labelled continue / break}}
     1295\vspace*{-8pt}
     1296\subsection{\texorpdfstring{Labeled \protect\lstinline@continue@ / \protect\lstinline@break@}{Labeled continue / break}}
    12641297
    12651298While C provides @continue@ and @break@ statements for altering control flow, both are restricted to one level of nesting for a particular control structure.
    1266 Unfortunately, this restriction forces programmers to use @goto@ to achieve the equivalent control-flow for more than one level of nesting.
    1267 To prevent having to switch to the @goto@, \CFA extends the @continue@ and @break@ with a target label to support static multi-level exit~\cite{Buhr85}, as in Java.
     1299Unfortunately, this restriction forces programmers to use @goto@ to achieve the equivalent control flow for more than one level of nesting.
     1300To prevent having to switch to the @goto@, \CFA extends @continue@ and @break@ with a target label to support static multilevel exit~\cite{Buhr85}, as in Java.
    12681301For both @continue@ and @break@, the target label must be directly associated with a @for@, @while@ or @do@ statement;
    12691302for @break@, the target label can also be associated with a @switch@, @if@ or compound (@{}@) statement.
    1270 Figure~\ref{f:MultiLevelExit} shows @continue@ and @break@ indicating the specific control structure, and the corresponding C program using only @goto@ and labels.
    1271 The innermost loop has 7 exit points, which cause continuation or termination of one or more of the 7 nested control-structures.
     1303Figure~\ref{f:MultiLevelExit} shows @continue@ and @break@ indicating the specific control structure and the corresponding C program using only @goto@ and labels.
     1304The innermost loop has seven exit points, which cause a continuation or termination of one or more of the seven nested control structures.
    12721305
    12731306\begin{figure}
     1307\fontsize{9bp}{11bp}\selectfont
    12741308\lstDeleteShortInline@%
    12751309\begin{tabular}{@{\hspace{\parindentlnth}}l|@{\hspace{\parindentlnth}}l@{\hspace{\parindentlnth}}l@{}}
     
    13361370\end{tabular}
    13371371\lstMakeShortInline@%
    1338 \caption{Multi-level Exit}
     1372\caption{Multilevel exit}
    13391373\label{f:MultiLevelExit}
     1374\vspace*{-5pt}
    13401375\end{figure}
    13411376
    1342 With respect to safety, both labelled @continue@ and @break@ are a @goto@ restricted in the following ways:
    1343 \begin{itemize}
     1377With respect to safety, both labeled @continue@ and @break@ are @goto@ restricted in the following ways.
     1378\begin{list}{$\bullet$}{\topsep=4pt\itemsep=0pt\parsep=0pt}
    13441379\item
    13451380They cannot create a loop, which means only the looping constructs cause looping.
     
    13471382\item
    13481383They cannot branch into a control structure.
    1349 This restriction prevents missing declarations and/or initializations at the start of a control structure resulting in undefined behaviour.
    1350 \end{itemize}
    1351 The advantage of the labelled @continue@/@break@ is allowing static multi-level exits without having to use the @goto@ statement, and tying control flow to the target control structure rather than an arbitrary point in a program.
    1352 Furthermore, the location of the label at the \emph{beginning} of the target control structure informs the reader (eye candy) that complex control-flow is occurring in the body of the control structure.
     1384This restriction prevents missing declarations and/or initializations at the start of a control structure resulting in an undefined behavior.
     1385\end{list}
     1386The advantage of the labeled @continue@/@break@ is allowing static multilevel exits without having to use the @goto@ statement and tying control flow to the target control structure rather than an arbitrary point in a program.
     1387Furthermore, the location of the label at the \emph{beginning} of the target control structure informs the reader (eye candy) that complex control flow is
     1388occurring in the body of the control structure.
    13531389With @goto@, the label is at the end of the control structure, which fails to convey this important clue early enough to the reader.
    1354 Finally, using an explicit target for the transfer instead of an implicit target allows new constructs to be added or removed without affecting existing constructs.
     1390Finally, using an explicit target for the transfer instead of an implicit target allows new constructs to be added or removed without affecting the existing constructs.
    13551391Otherwise, the implicit targets of the current @continue@ and @break@, \ie the closest enclosing loop or @switch@, change as certain constructs are added or removed.
    13561392
    13571393
    1358 \subsection{Exception Handling}
    1359 
    1360 The following framework for \CFA exception-handling is in place, excluding some runtime type-information and virtual functions.
     1394\vspace*{-5pt}
     1395\subsection{Exception handling}
     1396
     1397The following framework for \CFA exception handling is in place, excluding some runtime type information and virtual functions.
    13611398\CFA provides two forms of exception handling: \newterm{fix-up} and \newterm{recovery} (see Figure~\ref{f:CFAExceptionHandling})~\cite{Buhr92b,Buhr00a}.
    1362 Both mechanisms provide dynamic call to a handler using dynamic name-lookup, where fix-up has dynamic return and recovery has static return from the handler.
     1399Both mechanisms provide dynamic call to a handler using dynamic name lookup, where fix-up has dynamic return and recovery has static return from the handler.
    13631400\CFA restricts exception types to those defined by aggregate type @exception@.
    13641401The form of the raise dictates the set of handlers examined during propagation: \newterm{resumption propagation} (@resume@) only examines resumption handlers (@catchResume@); \newterm{terminating propagation} (@throw@) only examines termination handlers (@catch@).
    1365 If @resume@ or @throw@ have no exception type, it is a reresume/rethrow, meaning the currently exception continues propagation.
     1402If @resume@ or @throw@ has no exception type, it is a reresume/rethrow, which means that the current exception continues propagation.
    13661403If there is no current exception, the reresume/rethrow results in a runtime error.
    13671404
    13681405\begin{figure}
     1406\fontsize{9bp}{11bp}\selectfont
     1407\lstDeleteShortInline@%
    13691408\begin{cquote}
    1370 \lstDeleteShortInline@%
    13711409\begin{tabular}{@{}l|@{\hspace{\parindentlnth}}l@{}}
    13721410\multicolumn{1}{@{}c|@{\hspace{\parindentlnth}}}{\textbf{Resumption}}   & \multicolumn{1}{c@{}}{\textbf{Termination}}   \\
     
    13991437\end{cfa}
    14001438\end{tabular}
    1401 \lstMakeShortInline@%
    14021439\end{cquote}
    1403 \caption{\CFA Exception Handling}
     1440\lstMakeShortInline@%
     1441\caption{\CFA exception handling}
    14041442\label{f:CFAExceptionHandling}
     1443\vspace*{-5pt}
    14051444\end{figure}
    14061445
    1407 The set of exception types in a list of catch clause may include both a resumption and termination handler:
     1446The set of exception types in a list of catch clauses may include both a resumption and a termination handler.
    14081447\begin{cfa}
    14091448try {
     
    14191458The termination handler is available because the resumption propagation did not unwind the stack.
    14201459
    1421 An additional feature is conditional matching in a catch clause:
     1460An additional feature is conditional matching in a catch clause.
    14221461\begin{cfa}
    14231462try {
     
    14281467   catch ( IOError err ) { ... }                        $\C{// handler error from other files}$
    14291468\end{cfa}
    1430 where the throw inserts the failing file-handle into the I/O exception.
    1431 Conditional catch cannot be trivially mimicked by other mechanisms because once an exception is caught, handler clauses in that @try@ statement are no longer eligible..
    1432 
    1433 The resumption raise can specify an alternate stack on which to raise an exception, called a \newterm{nonlocal raise}:
     1469Here, the throw inserts the failing file handle into the I/O exception.
     1470Conditional catch cannot be trivially mimicked by other mechanisms because once an exception is caught, handler clauses in that @try@ statement are no longer eligible.
     1471
     1472The resumption raise can specify an alternate stack on which to raise an exception, called a \newterm{nonlocal raise}.
    14341473\begin{cfa}
    14351474resume( $\emph{exception-type}$, $\emph{alternate-stack}$ )
     
    14391478Nonlocal raise is restricted to resumption to provide the exception handler the greatest flexibility because processing the exception does not unwind its stack, allowing it to continue after the handler returns.
    14401479
    1441 To facilitate nonlocal raise, \CFA provides dynamic enabling and disabling of nonlocal exception-propagation.
    1442 The constructs for controlling propagation of nonlocal exceptions are the @enable@ and the @disable@ blocks:
     1480To facilitate nonlocal raise, \CFA provides dynamic enabling and disabling of nonlocal exception propagation.
     1481The constructs for controlling propagation of nonlocal exceptions are the @enable@ and @disable@ blocks.
    14431482\begin{cquote}
    14441483\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    14461485\begin{cfa}
    14471486enable $\emph{exception-type-list}$ {
    1448         // allow non-local raise
     1487        // allow nonlocal raise
    14491488}
    14501489\end{cfa}
     
    14521491\begin{cfa}
    14531492disable $\emph{exception-type-list}$ {
    1454         // disallow non-local raise
     1493        // disallow nonlocal raise
    14551494}
    14561495\end{cfa}
     
    14601499The arguments for @enable@/@disable@ specify the exception types allowed to be propagated or postponed, respectively.
    14611500Specifying no exception type is shorthand for specifying all exception types.
    1462 Both @enable@ and @disable@ blocks can be nested, turning propagation on/off on entry, and on exit, the specified exception types are restored to their prior state.
    1463 Coroutines and tasks start with non-local exceptions disabled, allowing handlers to be put in place, before non-local exceptions are explicitly enabled.
     1501Both @enable@ and @disable@ blocks can be nested;
     1502turning propagation on/off on entry and on exit, the specified exception types are restored to their prior state.
     1503Coroutines and tasks start with nonlocal exceptions disabled, allowing handlers to be put in place, before nonlocal exceptions are explicitly enabled.
    14641504\begin{cfa}
    14651505void main( mytask & t ) {                                       $\C{// thread starts here}$
    1466         // non-local exceptions disabled
    1467         try {                                                                   $\C{// establish handles for non-local exceptions}$
    1468                 enable {                                                        $\C{// allow non-local exception delivery}$
     1506        // nonlocal exceptions disabled
     1507        try {                                                                   $\C{// establish handles for nonlocal exceptions}$
     1508                enable {                                                        $\C{// allow nonlocal exception delivery}$
    14691509                        // task body
    14701510                }
     
    14741514\end{cfa}
    14751515
    1476 Finally, \CFA provides a Java like  @finally@ clause after the catch clauses:
     1516Finally, \CFA provides a Java-like  @finally@ clause after the catch clauses.
    14771517\begin{cfa}
    14781518try {
     
    14831523}
    14841524\end{cfa}
    1485 The finally clause is always executed, i.e., if the try block ends normally or if an exception is raised.
     1525The finally clause is always executed, \ie, if the try block ends normally or if an exception is raised.
    14861526If an exception is raised and caught, the handler is run before the finally clause.
    14871527Like a destructor (see Section~\ref{s:ConstructorsDestructors}), a finally clause can raise an exception but not if there is an exception being propagated.
    1488 Mimicking the @finally@ clause with mechanisms like RAII is non-trivial when there are multiple types and local accesses.
    1489 
    1490 
    1491 \subsection{\texorpdfstring{\protect\lstinline{with} Statement}{with Statement}}
     1528Mimicking the @finally@ clause with mechanisms like Resource Aquisition Is Initialization (RAII) is nontrivial when there are multiple types and local accesses.
     1529
     1530
     1531\subsection{\texorpdfstring{\protect\lstinline{with} statement}{with statement}}
    14921532\label{s:WithStatement}
    14931533
    1494 Heterogeneous data is often aggregated into a structure/union.
    1495 To reduce syntactic noise, \CFA provides a @with@ statement (see Pascal~\cite[\S~4.F]{Pascal}) to elide aggregate member-qualification by opening a scope containing the member identifiers.
     1534Heterogeneous data are often aggregated into a structure/union.
     1535To reduce syntactic noise, \CFA provides a @with@ statement (see section~4.F in the Pascal User Manual and Report~\cite{Pascal}) to elide aggregate member qualification by opening a scope containing the member identifiers.
    14961536\begin{cquote}
    14971537\vspace*{-\baselineskip}%???
     
    15211561Object-oriented programming languages only provide implicit qualification for the receiver.
    15221562
    1523 In detail, the @with@ statement has the form:
     1563In detail, the @with@ statement has the form
    15241564\begin{cfa}
    15251565$\emph{with-statement}$:
     
    15271567\end{cfa}
    15281568and may appear as the body of a function or nested within a function body.
    1529 Each expression in the expression-list provides a type and object.
     1569Each expression in the expression list provides a type and object.
    15301570The type must be an aggregate type.
    15311571(Enumerations are already opened.)
    1532 The object is the implicit qualifier for the open structure-members.
     1572The object is the implicit qualifier for the open structure members.
    15331573
    15341574All expressions in the expression list are open in parallel within the compound statement, which is different from Pascal, which nests the openings from left to right.
    1535 The difference between parallel and nesting occurs for members with the same name and type:
     1575The difference between parallel and nesting occurs for members with the same name and type.
    15361576\begin{cfa}
    15371577struct S { int `i`; int j; double m; } s, w;    $\C{// member i has same type in structure types S and T}$
     
    15471587}
    15481588\end{cfa}
    1549 For parallel semantics, both @s.i@ and @t.i@ are visible, so @i@ is ambiguous without qualification;
    1550 for nested semantics, @t.i@ hides @s.i@, so @i@ implies @t.i@.
     1589For parallel semantics, both @s.i@ and @t.i@ are visible and, therefore, @i@ is ambiguous without qualification;
     1590for nested semantics, @t.i@ hides @s.i@ and, therefore, @i@ implies @t.i@.
    15511591\CFA's ability to overload variables means members with the same name but different types are automatically disambiguated, eliminating most qualification when opening multiple aggregates.
    15521592Qualification or a cast is used to disambiguate.
    15531593
    1554 There is an interesting problem between parameters and the function-body @with@, \eg:
     1594There is an interesting problem between parameters and the function body @with@.
    15551595\begin{cfa}
    15561596void ?{}( S & s, int i ) with ( s ) {           $\C{// constructor}$
     
    15581598}
    15591599\end{cfa}
    1560 Here, the assignment @s.i = i@ means @s.i = s.i@, which is meaningless, and there is no mechanism to qualify the parameter @i@, making the assignment impossible using the function-body @with@.
    1561 To solve this problem, parameters are treated like an initialized aggregate:
     1600Here, the assignment @s.i = i@ means @s.i = s.i@, which is meaningless, and there is no mechanism to qualify the parameter @i@, making the assignment impossible using the function body @with@.
     1601To solve this problem, parameters are treated like an initialized aggregate
    15621602\begin{cfa}
    15631603struct Params {
     
    15661606} params;
    15671607\end{cfa}
    1568 and implicitly opened \emph{after} a function-body open, to give them higher priority:
     1608\newpage
     1609and implicitly opened \emph{after} a function body open, to give them higher priority
    15691610\begin{cfa}
    15701611void ?{}( S & s, int `i` ) with ( s ) `{` `with( $\emph{\color{red}params}$ )` {
     
    15721613} `}`
    15731614\end{cfa}
    1574 Finally, a cast may be used to disambiguate among overload variables in a @with@ expression:
     1615Finally, a cast may be used to disambiguate among overload variables in a @with@ expression
    15751616\begin{cfa}
    15761617with ( w ) { ... }                                                      $\C{// ambiguous, same name and no context}$
    15771618with ( (S)w ) { ... }                                           $\C{// unambiguous, cast}$
    15781619\end{cfa}
    1579 and @with@ expressions may be complex expressions with type reference (see Section~\ref{s:References}) to aggregate:
     1620and @with@ expressions may be complex expressions with type reference (see Section~\ref{s:References}) to aggregate
    15801621\begin{cfa}
    15811622struct S { int i, j; } sv;
     
    16011642\CFA attempts to correct and add to C declarations, while ensuring \CFA subjectively ``feels like'' C.
    16021643An important part of this subjective feel is maintaining C's syntax and procedural paradigm, as opposed to functional and object-oriented approaches in other systems languages such as \CC and Rust.
    1603 Maintaining the C approach means that C coding-patterns remain not only useable but idiomatic in \CFA, reducing the mental burden of retraining C programmers and switching between C and \CFA development.
     1644Maintaining the C approach means that C coding patterns remain not only useable but idiomatic in \CFA, reducing the mental burden of retraining C programmers and switching between C and \CFA development.
    16041645Nevertheless, some features from other approaches are undeniably convenient;
    16051646\CFA attempts to adapt these features to the C paradigm.
    16061647
    16071648
    1608 \subsection{Alternative Declaration Syntax}
     1649\subsection{Alternative declaration syntax}
    16091650
    16101651C declaration syntax is notoriously confusing and error prone.
    1611 For example, many C programmers are confused by a declaration as simple as:
     1652For example, many C programmers are confused by a declaration as simple as the following.
    16121653\begin{cquote}
    16131654\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    16211662\lstMakeShortInline@%
    16221663\end{cquote}
    1623 Is this an array of 5 pointers to integers or a pointer to an array of 5 integers?
     1664Is this an array of five pointers to integers or a pointer to an array of five integers?
    16241665If there is any doubt, it implies productivity and safety issues even for basic programs.
    16251666Another example of confusion results from the fact that a function name and its parameters are embedded within the return type, mimicking the way the return value is used at the function's call site.
    1626 For example, a function returning a pointer to an array of integers is defined and used in the following way:
     1667For example, a function returning a pointer to an array of integers is defined and used in the following way.
    16271668\begin{cfa}
    16281669int `(*`f`())[`5`]` {...};                                      $\C{// definition}$
     
    16321673While attempting to make the two contexts consistent is a laudable goal, it has not worked out in practice.
    16331674
    1634 \CFA provides its own type, variable and function declarations, using a different syntax~\cite[pp.~856--859]{Buhr94a}.
    1635 The new declarations place qualifiers to the left of the base type, while C declarations place qualifiers to the right.
     1675\newpage
     1676\CFA provides its own type, variable, and function declarations, using a different syntax~\cite[pp.~856--859]{Buhr94a}.
     1677The new declarations place qualifiers to the left of the base type, whereas C declarations place qualifiers to the right.
    16361678The qualifiers have the same meaning but are ordered left to right to specify a variable's type.
    16371679\begin{cquote}
     
    16591701\lstMakeShortInline@%
    16601702\end{cquote}
    1661 The only exception is bit-field specification, which always appear to the right of the base type.
     1703The only exception is bit-field specification, which always appears to the right of the base type.
    16621704% Specifically, the character @*@ is used to indicate a pointer, square brackets @[@\,@]@ are used to represent an array or function return value, and parentheses @()@ are used to indicate a function parameter.
    16631705However, unlike C, \CFA type declaration tokens are distributed across all variables in the declaration list.
    1664 For instance, variables @x@ and @y@ of type pointer to integer are defined in \CFA as follows:
     1706For instance, variables @x@ and @y@ of type pointer to integer are defined in \CFA as
    16651707\begin{cquote}
    16661708\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    17251767\end{comment}
    17261768
    1727 All specifiers (@extern@, @static@, \etc) and qualifiers (@const@, @volatile@, \etc) are used in the normal way with the new declarations and also appear left to right, \eg:
     1769All specifiers (@extern@, @static@, \etc) and qualifiers (@const@, @volatile@, \etc) are used in the normal way with the new declarations and also appear left to right.
    17281770\begin{cquote}
    17291771\lstDeleteShortInline@%
    17301772\begin{tabular}{@{}l@{\hspace{2\parindentlnth}}l@{\hspace{2\parindentlnth}}l@{}}
    17311773\multicolumn{1}{@{}c@{\hspace{2\parindentlnth}}}{\textbf{\CFA}} & \multicolumn{1}{c@{\hspace{2\parindentlnth}}}{\textbf{C}}     \\
    1732 \begin{cfa}
     1774\begin{cfa}[basicstyle=\linespread{0.9}\fontsize{9bp}{12bp}\selectfont\sf]
    17331775extern const * const int x;
    17341776static const * [5] const int y;
    17351777\end{cfa}
    17361778&
    1737 \begin{cfa}
     1779\begin{cfa}[basicstyle=\linespread{0.9}\fontsize{9bp}{12bp}\selectfont\sf]
    17381780int extern const * const x;
    17391781static const int (* const y)[5]
    17401782\end{cfa}
    17411783&
    1742 \begin{cfa}
     1784\begin{cfa}[basicstyle=\linespread{0.9}\fontsize{9bp}{12bp}\selectfont\sf]
    17431785// external const pointer to const int
    17441786// internal const pointer to array of 5 const int
     
    17481790\end{cquote}
    17491791Specifiers must appear at the start of a \CFA function declaration\footnote{\label{StorageClassSpecifier}
    1750 The placement of a storage-class specifier other than at the beginning of the declaration specifiers in a declaration is an obsolescent feature.~\cite[\S~6.11.5(1)]{C11}}.
     1792The placement of a storage-class specifier other than at the beginning of the declaration specifiers in a declaration is an obsolescent feature (see section~6.11.5(1) in ISO/IEC 9899~\cite{C11}).}.
    17511793
    17521794The new declaration syntax can be used in other contexts where types are required, \eg casts and the pseudo-function @sizeof@:
     
    17691811
    17701812The syntax of the new function-prototype declaration follows directly from the new function-definition syntax;
    1771 as well, parameter names are optional, \eg:
     1813also, parameter names are optional.
    17721814\begin{cfa}
    17731815[ int x ] f ( /* void */ );             $\C[2.5in]{// returning int with no parameters}$
     
    17771819[ * int, int ] j ( int );               $\C{// returning pointer to int and int with int parameter}$
    17781820\end{cfa}
    1779 This syntax allows a prototype declaration to be created by cutting and pasting source text from the function-definition header (or vice versa).
    1780 Like C, it is possible to declare multiple function-prototypes in a single declaration, where the return type is distributed across \emph{all} function names in the declaration list, \eg:
     1821This syntax allows a prototype declaration to be created by cutting and pasting the source text from the function-definition header (or vice versa).
     1822Like C, it is possible to declare multiple function prototypes in a single declaration, where the return type is distributed across \emph{all} function names in the declaration list.
    17811823\begin{cquote}
    17821824\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    17931835\lstMakeShortInline@%
    17941836\end{cquote}
    1795 where \CFA allows the last function in the list to define its body.
    1796 
    1797 The syntax for pointers to \CFA functions specifies the pointer name on the right, \eg:
     1837Here, \CFA allows the last function in the list to define its body.
     1838
     1839The syntax for pointers to \CFA functions specifies the pointer name on the right.
    17981840\begin{cfa}
    17991841* [ int x ] () fp;                              $\C{// pointer to function returning int with no parameters}$
     
    18021844* [ * int, int ] ( int ) jp;    $\C{// pointer to function returning pointer to int and int with int parameter}\CRT$
    18031845\end{cfa}
    1804 Note, the name of the function pointer is specified last, as for other variable declarations.
    1805 
    1806 Finally, new \CFA declarations may appear together with C declarations in the same program block, but cannot be mixed within a specific declaration.
    1807 Therefore, a programmer has the option of either continuing to use traditional C declarations or take advantage of the new style.
    1808 Clearly, both styles need to be supported for some time due to existing C-style header-files, particularly for UNIX-like systems.
     1846\newpage
     1847\noindent
     1848Note that the name of the function pointer is specified last, as for other variable declarations.
     1849
     1850Finally, new \CFA declarations may appear together with C declarations in the same program block but cannot be mixed within a specific declaration.
     1851Therefore, a programmer has the option of either continuing to use traditional C declarations or taking advantage of the new style.
     1852Clearly, both styles need to be supported for some time due to existing C-style header files, particularly for UNIX-like systems.
    18091853
    18101854
     
    18141858All variables in C have an \newterm{address}, a \newterm{value}, and a \newterm{type};
    18151859at the position in the program's memory denoted by the address, there exists a sequence of bits (the value), with the length and semantic meaning of this bit sequence defined by the type.
    1816 The C type-system does not always track the relationship between a value and its address;
    1817 a value that does not have a corresponding address is called a \newterm{rvalue} (for ``right-hand value''), while a value that does have an address is called a \newterm{lvalue} (for ``left-hand value'').
    1818 For example, in @int x; x = 42;@ the variable expression @x@ on the left-hand-side of the assignment is a lvalue, while the constant expression @42@ on the right-hand-side of the assignment is a rvalue.
    1819 Despite the nomenclature of ``left-hand'' and ``right-hand'', an expression's classification as lvalue or rvalue is entirely dependent on whether it has an address or not; in imperative programming, the address of a value is used for both reading and writing (mutating) a value, and as such, lvalues can be converted to rvalues and read from, but rvalues cannot be mutated because they lack a location to store the updated value.
     1860The C type system does not always track the relationship between a value and its address;
     1861a value that does not have a corresponding address is called an \newterm{rvalue} (for ``right-hand value''), whereas a value that does have an address is called an \newterm{lvalue} (for ``left-hand value'').
     1862For example, in @int x; x = 42;@ the variable expression @x@ on the left-hand side of the assignment is an lvalue, whereas the constant expression @42@ on the right-hand side of the assignment is an rvalue.
     1863Despite the nomenclature of ``left-hand'' and ``right-hand'', an expression's classification as an lvalue or an rvalue is entirely dependent on whether it has an address or not; in imperative programming, the address of a value is used for both reading and writing (mutating) a value, and as such, lvalues can be converted into rvalues and read from, but rvalues cannot be mutated because they lack a location to store the updated value.
    18201864
    18211865Within a lexical scope, lvalue expressions have an \newterm{address interpretation} for writing a value or a \newterm{value interpretation} to read a value.
    1822 For example, in @x = y@, @x@ has an address interpretation, while @y@ has a value interpretation.
     1866For example, in @x = y@, @x@ has an address interpretation, whereas @y@ has a value interpretation.
    18231867While this duality of interpretation is useful, C lacks a direct mechanism to pass lvalues between contexts, instead relying on \newterm{pointer types} to serve a similar purpose.
    18241868In C, for any type @T@ there is a pointer type @T *@, the value of which is the address of a value of type @T@.
    1825 A pointer rvalue can be explicitly \newterm{dereferenced} to the pointed-to lvalue with the dereference operator @*?@, while the rvalue representing the address of a lvalue can be obtained with the address-of operator @&?@.
    1826 
     1869A pointer rvalue can be explicitly \newterm{dereferenced} to the pointed-to lvalue with the dereference operator @*?@, whereas the rvalue representing the address of an lvalue can be obtained with the address-of operator @&?@.
    18271870\begin{cfa}
    18281871int x = 1, y = 2, * p1, * p2, ** p3;
     
    18321875*p2 = ((*p1 + *p2) * (**p3 - *p1)) / (**p3 - 15);
    18331876\end{cfa}
    1834 
    18351877Unfortunately, the dereference and address-of operators introduce a great deal of syntactic noise when dealing with pointed-to values rather than pointers, as well as the potential for subtle bugs because of pointer arithmetic.
    18361878For both brevity and clarity, it is desirable for the compiler to figure out how to elide the dereference operators in a complex expression such as the assignment to @*p2@ above.
    1837 However, since C defines a number of forms of \newterm{pointer arithmetic}, two similar expressions involving pointers to arithmetic types (\eg @*p1 + x@ and @p1 + x@) may each have well-defined but distinct semantics, introducing the possibility that a programmer may write one when they mean the other, and precluding any simple algorithm for elision of dereference operators.
     1879However, since C defines a number of forms of \newterm{pointer arithmetic}, two similar expressions involving pointers to arithmetic types (\eg @*p1 + x@ and @p1 + x@) may each have well-defined but distinct semantics, introducing the possibility that a programmer may write one when they mean the other and precluding any simple algorithm for elision of dereference operators.
    18381880To solve these problems, \CFA introduces reference types @T &@;
    1839 a @T &@ has exactly the same value as a @T *@, but where the @T *@ takes the address interpretation by default, a @T &@ takes the value interpretation by default, as below:
    1840 
     1881a @T &@ has exactly the same value as a @T *@, but where the @T *@ takes the address interpretation by default, a @T &@ takes the value interpretation by default, as below.
    18411882\begin{cfa}
    18421883int x = 1, y = 2, & r1, & r2, && r3;
     
    18461887r2 = ((r1 + r2) * (r3 - r1)) / (r3 - 15);       $\C{// implicit dereferencing}$
    18471888\end{cfa}
    1848 
    18491889Except for auto-dereferencing by the compiler, this reference example is exactly the same as the previous pointer example.
    1850 Hence, a reference behaves like a variable name -- an lvalue expression which is interpreted as a value -- but also has the type system track the address of that value.
    1851 One way to conceptualize a reference is via a rewrite rule, where the compiler inserts a dereference operator before the reference variable for each reference qualifier in the reference variable declaration, so the previous example implicitly acts like:
    1852 
     1890Hence, a reference behaves like a variable name---an lvalue expression that is interpreted as a value---but also has the type system track the address of that value.
     1891One way to conceptualize a reference is via a rewrite rule, where the compiler inserts a dereference operator before the reference variable for each reference qualifier in the reference variable declaration;
     1892thus, the previous example implicitly acts like the following.
    18531893\begin{cfa}
    18541894`*`r2 = ((`*`r1 + `*`r2) * (`**`r3 - `*`r1)) / (`**`r3 - 15);
    18551895\end{cfa}
    1856 
    18571896References in \CFA are similar to those in \CC, with important improvements, which can be seen in the example above.
    18581897Firstly, \CFA does not forbid references to references.
    1859 This provides a much more orthogonal design for library implementors, obviating the need for workarounds such as @std::reference_wrapper@.
     1898This provides a much more orthogonal design for library \mbox{implementors}, obviating the need for workarounds such as @std::reference_wrapper@.
    18601899Secondly, \CFA references are rebindable, whereas \CC references have a fixed address.
    1861 Rebinding allows \CFA references to be default-initialized (\eg to a null pointer\footnote{
    1862 While effort has been made into non-null reference checking in \CC and Java, the exercise seems moot for any non-managed languages (C/\CC), given that it only handles one of many different error situations, \eg using a pointer after its storage is deleted.}) and point to different addresses throughout their lifetime, like pointers.
     1900Rebinding allows \CFA references to be default initialized (\eg to a null pointer\footnote{
     1901While effort has been made into non-null reference checking in \CC and Java, the exercise seems moot for any nonmanaged languages (C/\CC), given that it only handles one of many different error situations, \eg using a pointer after its storage is deleted.}) and point to different addresses throughout their lifetime, like pointers.
    18631902Rebinding is accomplished by extending the existing syntax and semantics of the address-of operator in C.
    18641903
    1865 In C, the address of a lvalue is always a rvalue, as in general that address is not stored anywhere in memory, and does not itself have an address.
    1866 In \CFA, the address of a @T &@ is a lvalue @T *@, as the address of the underlying @T@ is stored in the reference, and can thus be mutated there.
     1904In C, the address of an lvalue is always an rvalue, as, in general, that address is not stored anywhere in memory and does not itself have an address.
     1905In \CFA, the address of a @T &@ is an lvalue @T *@, as the address of the underlying @T@ is stored in the reference and can thus be mutated there.
    18671906The result of this rule is that any reference can be rebound using the existing pointer assignment semantics by assigning a compatible pointer into the address of the reference, \eg @&r1 = &x;@ above.
    18681907This rebinding occurs to an arbitrary depth of reference nesting;
    18691908loosely speaking, nested address-of operators produce a nested lvalue pointer up to the depth of the reference.
    18701909These explicit address-of operators can be thought of as ``cancelling out'' the implicit dereference operators, \eg @(&`*`)r1 = &x@ or @(&(&`*`)`*`)r3 = &(&`*`)r1@ or even @(&`*`)r2 = (&`*`)`*`r3@ for @&r2 = &r3@.
    1871 More precisely:
     1910The precise rules are
    18721911\begin{itemize}
    18731912\item
    1874 if @R@ is an rvalue of type {@T &@$_1 \cdots$@ &@$_r$} where $r \ge 1$ references (@&@ symbols) then @&R@ has type {@T `*`&@$_{\color{red}2} \cdots$@ &@$_{\color{red}r}$}, \\ \ie @T@ pointer with $r-1$ references (@&@ symbols).
    1875        
     1913If @R@ is an rvalue of type @T &@$_1\cdots$ @&@$_r$, where $r \ge 1$ references (@&@ symbols), than @&R@ has type @T `*`&@$_{\color{red}2}\cdots$ @&@$_{\color{red}r}$, \ie @T@ pointer with $r-1$ references (@&@ symbols).
    18761914\item
    1877 if @L@ is an lvalue of type {@T &@$_1 \cdots$@ &@$_l$} where $l \ge 0$ references (@&@ symbols) then @&L@ has type {@T `*`&@$_{\color{red}1} \cdots$@ &@$_{\color{red}l}$}, \\ \ie @T@ pointer with $l$ references (@&@ symbols).
     1915If @L@ is an lvalue of type @T &@$_1\cdots$ @&@$_l$, where $l \ge 0$ references (@&@ symbols), than @&L@ has type @T `*`&@$_{\color{red}1}\cdots$ @&@$_{\color{red}l}$, \ie @T@ pointer with $l$ references (@&@ symbols).
    18781916\end{itemize}
    1879 Since pointers and references share the same internal representation, code using either is equally performant; in fact the \CFA compiler converts references to pointers internally, and the choice between them is made solely on convenience, \eg many pointer or value accesses.
     1917Since pointers and references share the same internal representation, code using either is equally performant;
     1918in fact, the \CFA compiler converts references into pointers internally, and the choice between them is made solely on convenience, \eg many pointer or value accesses.
    18801919
    18811920By analogy to pointers, \CFA references also allow cv-qualifiers such as @const@:
     
    18921931There are three initialization contexts in \CFA: declaration initialization, argument/parameter binding, and return/temporary binding.
    18931932In each of these contexts, the address-of operator on the target lvalue is elided.
    1894 The syntactic motivation is clearest when considering overloaded operator-assignment, \eg @int ?+=?(int &, int)@; given @int x, y@, the expected call syntax is @x += y@, not @&x += y@.
    1895 
    1896 More generally, this initialization of references from lvalues rather than pointers is an instance of a ``lvalue-to-reference'' conversion rather than an elision of the address-of operator;
     1933The syntactic motivation is clearest when considering overloaded operator assignment, \eg @int ?+=?(int &, int)@; given @int x, y@, the expected call syntax is @x += y@, not @&x += y@.
     1934
     1935More generally, this initialization of references from lvalues rather than pointers is an instance of an ``lvalue-to-reference'' conversion rather than an elision of the address-of operator;
    18971936this conversion is used in any context in \CFA where an implicit conversion is allowed.
    1898 Similarly, use of a the value pointed to by a reference in an rvalue context can be thought of as a ``reference-to-rvalue'' conversion, and \CFA also includes a qualifier-adding ``reference-to-reference'' conversion, analogous to the @T *@ to @const T *@ conversion in standard C.
    1899 The final reference conversion included in \CFA is ``rvalue-to-reference'' conversion, implemented by means of an implicit temporary.
     1937Similarly, use of the value pointed to by a reference in an rvalue context can be thought of as a ``reference-to-rvalue'' conversion, and \CFA also includes a qualifier-adding ``reference-to-reference'' conversion, analogous to the @T *@ to @const T *@ conversion in standard C.
     1938The final reference conversion included in \CFA is an ``rvalue-to-reference'' conversion, implemented by means of an implicit temporary.
    19001939When an rvalue is used to initialize a reference, it is instead used to initialize a hidden temporary value with the same lexical scope as the reference, and the reference is initialized to the address of this temporary.
    19011940\begin{cfa}
     
    19051944f( 3, x + y, (S){ 1.0, 7.0 }, (int [3]){ 1, 2, 3 } ); $\C{// pass rvalue to lvalue \(\Rightarrow\) implicit temporary}$
    19061945\end{cfa}
    1907 This allows complex values to be succinctly and efficiently passed to functions, without the syntactic overhead of explicit definition of a temporary variable or the runtime cost of pass-by-value.
    1908 \CC allows a similar binding, but only for @const@ references; the more general semantics of \CFA are an attempt to avoid the \newterm{const poisoning} problem~\cite{Taylor10}, in which addition of a @const@ qualifier to one reference requires a cascading chain of added qualifiers.
    1909 
    1910 
    1911 \subsection{Type Nesting}
    1912 
    1913 Nested types provide a mechanism to organize associated types and refactor a subset of members into a named aggregate (\eg sub-aggregates @name@, @address@, @department@, within aggregate @employe@).
    1914 Java nested types are dynamic (apply to objects), \CC are static (apply to the \lstinline[language=C++]@class@), and C hoists (refactors) nested types into the enclosing scope, meaning there is no need for type qualification.
    1915 Since \CFA in not object-oriented, adopting dynamic scoping does not make sense;
    1916 instead \CFA adopts \CC static nesting, using the member-selection operator ``@.@'' for type qualification, as does Java, rather than the \CC type-selection operator ``@::@'' (see Figure~\ref{f:TypeNestingQualification}).
     1946This allows complex values to be succinctly and efficiently passed to functions, without the syntactic overhead of the explicit definition of a temporary variable or the runtime cost of pass-by-value.
     1947\CC allows a similar binding, but only for @const@ references; the more general semantics of \CFA are an attempt to avoid the \newterm{const poisoning} problem~\cite{Taylor10}, in which the addition of a @const@ qualifier to one reference requires a cascading chain of added qualifiers.
     1948
     1949
     1950\subsection{Type nesting}
     1951
     1952Nested types provide a mechanism to organize associated types and refactor a subset of members into a named aggregate (\eg subaggregates @name@, @address@, @department@, within aggregate @employe@).
     1953Java nested types are dynamic (apply to objects), \CC are static (apply to the \lstinline[language=C++]@class@), and C hoists (refactors) nested types into the enclosing scope, which means there is no need for type qualification.
     1954Since \CFA in not object oriented, adopting dynamic scoping does not make sense;
     1955instead, \CFA adopts \CC static nesting, using the member-selection operator ``@.@'' for type qualification, as does Java, rather than the \CC type-selection operator ``@::@'' (see Figure~\ref{f:TypeNestingQualification}).
     1956In the C left example, types @C@, @U@ and @T@ are implicitly hoisted outside of type @S@ into the containing block scope.
     1957In the \CFA right example, the types are not hoisted and accessible.
     1958
    19171959\begin{figure}
    19181960\centering
     1961\fontsize{9bp}{11bp}\selectfont\sf
    19191962\lstDeleteShortInline@%
    19201963\begin{tabular}{@{}l@{\hspace{3em}}l|l@{}}
     
    19782021\end{tabular}
    19792022\lstMakeShortInline@%
    1980 \caption{Type Nesting / Qualification}
     2023\caption{Type nesting / qualification}
    19812024\label{f:TypeNestingQualification}
     2025\vspace*{-8pt}
    19822026\end{figure}
    1983 In the C left example, types @C@, @U@ and @T@ are implicitly hoisted outside of type @S@ into the containing block scope.
    1984 In the \CFA right example, the types are not hoisted and accessible.
    1985 
    1986 
    1987 \subsection{Constructors and Destructors}
     2027
     2028
     2029\vspace*{-8pt}
     2030\subsection{Constructors and destructors}
    19882031\label{s:ConstructorsDestructors}
    19892032
    1990 One of the strengths (and weaknesses) of C is memory-management control, allowing resource release to be precisely specified versus unknown release with garbage-collected memory-management.
     2033One of the strengths (and weaknesses) of C is memory-management control, allowing resource release to be precisely specified versus unknown release with garbage-collected memory management.
    19912034However, this manual approach is verbose, and it is useful to manage resources other than memory (\eg file handles) using the same mechanism as memory.
    1992 \CC addresses these issues using Resource Aquisition Is Initialization (RAII), implemented by means of \newterm{constructor} and \newterm{destructor} functions;
     2035\CC addresses these issues using RAII, implemented by means of \newterm{constructor} and \newterm{destructor} functions;
    19932036\CFA adopts constructors and destructors (and @finally@) to facilitate RAII.
    1994 While constructors and destructors are a common feature of object-oriented programming-languages, they are an independent capability allowing \CFA to adopt them while retaining a procedural paradigm.
    1995 Specifically, \CFA constructors and destructors are denoted by name and first parameter-type versus name and nesting in an aggregate type.
     2037While constructors and destructors are a common feature of object-oriented programming languages, they are an independent capability allowing \CFA to adopt them while retaining a procedural paradigm.
     2038Specifically, \CFA constructors and destructors are denoted by name and first parameter type versus name and nesting in an aggregate type.
    19962039Constructor calls seamlessly integrate with existing C initialization syntax, providing a simple and familiar syntax to C programmers and allowing constructor calls to be inserted into legacy C code with minimal code changes.
    19972040
     
    20022045The constructor and destructor have return type @void@, and the first parameter is a reference to the object type to be constructed or destructed.
    20032046While the first parameter is informally called the @this@ parameter, as in object-oriented languages, any variable name may be used.
    2004 Both constructors and destructors allow additional parameters after the @this@ parameter for specifying values for initialization/de-initialization\footnote{
    2005 Destruction parameters are useful for specifying storage-management actions, such as de-initialize but not deallocate.}.
    2006 \begin{cfa}
     2047Both constructors and destructors allow additional parameters after the @this@ parameter for specifying values for initialization/deinitialization\footnote{
     2048Destruction parameters are useful for specifying storage-management actions, such as deinitialize but not deallocate.}.
     2049\begin{cfa}[basicstyle=\linespread{0.9}\fontsize{9bp}{11bp}\selectfont\sf]
    20072050struct VLA { int size, * data; };                       $\C{// variable length array of integers}$
    20082051void ?{}( VLA & vla ) with ( vla ) { size = 10;  data = alloc( size ); }  $\C{// default constructor}$
     
    20132056\end{cfa}
    20142057@VLA@ is a \newterm{managed type}\footnote{
    2015 A managed type affects the runtime environment versus a self-contained type.}: a type requiring a non-trivial constructor or destructor, or with a member of a managed type.
     2058A managed type affects the runtime environment versus a self-contained type.}: a type requiring a nontrivial constructor or destructor, or with a member of a managed type.
    20162059A managed type is implicitly constructed at allocation and destructed at deallocation to ensure proper interaction with runtime resources, in this case, the @data@ array in the heap.
    2017 For details of the code-generation placement of implicit constructor and destructor calls among complex executable statements see~\cite[\S~2.2]{Schluntz17}.
    2018 
    2019 \CFA also provides syntax for \newterm{initialization} and \newterm{copy}:
     2060For details of the code-generation placement of implicit constructor and destructor calls among complex executable statements, see section~2.2 in the work of Schlintz~\cite{Schluntz17}.
     2061
     2062\CFA also provides syntax for \newterm{initialization} and \newterm{copy}.
    20202063\begin{cfa}
    20212064void ?{}( VLA & vla, int size, char fill = '\0' ) {  $\C{// initialization}$
     
    20262069}
    20272070\end{cfa}
    2028 (Note, the example is purposely simplified using shallow-copy semantics.)
    2029 An initialization constructor-call has the same syntax as a C initializer, except the initialization values are passed as arguments to a matching constructor (number and type of paremeters).
     2071(Note that the example is purposely simplified using shallow-copy semantics.)
     2072An initialization constructor call has the same syntax as a C initializer, except that the initialization values are passed as arguments to a matching constructor (number and type of parameters).
    20302073\begin{cfa}
    20312074VLA va = `{` 20, 0 `}`,  * arr = alloc()`{` 5, 0 `}`;
    20322075\end{cfa}
    2033 Note, the use of a \newterm{constructor expression} to initialize the storage from the dynamic storage-allocation.
     2076Note the use of a \newterm{constructor expression} to initialize the storage from the dynamic storage allocation.
    20342077Like \CC, the copy constructor has two parameters, the second of which is a value parameter with the same type as the first parameter;
    20352078appropriate care is taken to not recursively call the copy constructor when initializing the second parameter.
     
    20372080\CFA constructors may be explicitly called, like Java, and destructors may be explicitly called, like \CC.
    20382081Explicit calls to constructors double as a \CC-style \emph{placement syntax}, useful for construction of members in user-defined constructors and reuse of existing storage allocations.
    2039 Like the other operators in \CFA, there is a concise syntax for constructor/destructor function calls:
     2082Like the other operators in \CFA, there is a concise syntax for constructor/destructor function calls.
    20402083\begin{cfa}
    20412084{
     
    20532096To provide a uniform type interface for @otype@ polymorphism, the \CFA compiler automatically generates a default constructor, copy constructor, assignment operator, and destructor for all types.
    20542097These default functions can be overridden by user-generated versions.
    2055 For compatibility with the standard behaviour of C, the default constructor and destructor for all basic, pointer, and reference types do nothing, while the copy constructor and assignment operator are bitwise copies;
    2056 if default zero-initialization is desired, the default constructors can be overridden.
     2098For compatibility with the standard behavior of C, the default constructor and destructor for all basic, pointer, and reference types do nothing, whereas the copy constructor and assignment operator are bitwise copies;
     2099if default zero initialization is desired, the default constructors can be overridden.
    20572100For user-generated types, the four functions are also automatically generated.
    20582101@enum@ types are handled the same as their underlying integral type, and unions are also bitwise copied and no-op initialized and destructed.
    20592102For compatibility with C, a copy constructor from the first union member type is also defined.
    2060 For @struct@ types, each of the four functions are implicitly defined to call their corresponding functions on each member of the struct.
    2061 To better simulate the behaviour of C initializers, a set of \newterm{member constructors} is also generated for structures.
    2062 A constructor is generated for each non-empty prefix of a structure's member-list to copy-construct the members passed as parameters and default-construct the remaining members.
     2103For @struct@ types, each of the four functions is implicitly defined to call their corresponding functions on each member of the struct.
     2104To better simulate the behavior of C initializers, a set of \newterm{member constructors} is also generated for structures.
     2105A constructor is generated for each nonempty prefix of a structure's member list to copy-construct the members passed as parameters and default-construct the remaining members.
    20632106To allow users to limit the set of constructors available for a type, when a user declares any constructor or destructor, the corresponding generated function and all member constructors for that type are hidden from expression resolution;
    2064 similarly, the generated default constructor is hidden upon declaration of any constructor.
     2107similarly, the generated default constructor is hidden upon the declaration of any constructor.
    20652108These semantics closely mirror the rule for implicit declaration of constructors in \CC\cite[p.~186]{ANSI98:C++}.
    20662109
    2067 In some circumstance programmers may not wish to have implicit constructor and destructor generation and calls.
    2068 In these cases, \CFA provides the initialization syntax \lstinline|S x `@=` {}|, and the object becomes unmanaged, so implicit constructor and destructor calls are not generated.
     2110In some circumstance, programmers may not wish to have implicit constructor and destructor generation and calls.
     2111In these cases, \CFA provides the initialization syntax \lstinline|S x `@=` {}|, and the object becomes unmanaged;
     2112hence, implicit \mbox{constructor} and destructor calls are not generated.
    20692113Any C initializer can be the right-hand side of an \lstinline|@=| initializer, \eg \lstinline|VLA a @= { 0, 0x0 }|, with the usual C initialization semantics.
    20702114The same syntax can be used in a compound literal, \eg \lstinline|a = (VLA)`@`{ 0, 0x0 }|, to create a C-style literal.
    2071 The point of \lstinline|@=| is to provide a migration path from legacy C code to \CFA, by providing a mechanism to incrementally convert to implicit initialization.
     2115The point of \lstinline|@=| is to provide a migration path from legacy C code to \CFA, by providing a mechanism to incrementally convert into implicit initialization.
    20722116
    20732117
     
    20772121\section{Literals}
    20782122
    2079 C already includes limited polymorphism for literals -- @0@ can be either an integer or a pointer literal, depending on context, while the syntactic forms of literals of the various integer and float types are very similar, differing from each other only in suffix.
    2080 In keeping with the general \CFA approach of adding features while respecting the ``C-style'' of doing things, C's polymorphic constants and typed literal syntax are extended to interoperate with user-defined types, while maintaining a backwards-compatible semantics.
     2123C already includes limited polymorphism for literals---@0@ can be either an integer or a pointer literal, depending on context, whereas the syntactic forms of literals of the various integer and float types are very similar, differing from each other only in suffix.
     2124In keeping with the general \CFA approach of adding features while respecting the ``C style'' of doing things, C's polymorphic constants and typed literal syntax are extended to interoperate with user-defined types, while maintaining a backward-compatible semantics.
    20812125
    20822126A simple example is allowing the underscore, as in Ada, to separate prefixes, digits, and suffixes in all \CFA constants, \eg @0x`_`1.ffff`_`ffff`_`p`_`128`_`l@, where the underscore is also the standard separator in C identifiers.
    2083 \CC uses a single quote as a separator but it is restricted among digits, precluding its use in the literal prefix or suffix, \eg @0x1.ffff@@`'@@ffffp128l@, and causes problems with most IDEs, which must be extended to deal with this alternate use of the single quote.
     2127\CC uses a single quote as a separator, but it is restricted among digits, precluding its use in the literal prefix or suffix, \eg @0x1.ffff@@`'@@ffffp128l@, and causes problems with most integrated development environments (IDEs), which must be extended to deal with this alternate use of the single quote.
    20842128
    20852129
     
    21242168
    21252169In C, @0@ has the special property that it is the only ``false'' value;
    2126 by the standard, any value that compares equal to @0@ is false, while any value that compares unequal to @0@ is true.
    2127 As such, an expression @x@ in any boolean context (such as the condition of an @if@ or @while@ statement, or the arguments to @&&@, @||@, or @?:@\,) can be rewritten as @x != 0@ without changing its semantics.
     2170by the standard, any value that compares equal to @0@ is false, whereas any value that compares unequal to @0@ is true.
     2171As such, an expression @x@ in any Boolean context (such as the condition of an @if@ or @while@ statement, or the arguments to @&&@, @||@, or @?:@\,) can be rewritten as @x != 0@ without changing its semantics.
    21282172Operator overloading in \CFA provides a natural means to implement this truth-value comparison for arbitrary types, but the C type system is not precise enough to distinguish an equality comparison with @0@ from an equality comparison with an arbitrary integer or pointer.
    21292173To provide this precision, \CFA introduces a new type @zero_t@ as the type of literal @0@ (somewhat analagous to @nullptr_t@ and @nullptr@ in \CCeleven);
     
    21312175With this addition, \CFA rewrites @if (x)@ and similar expressions to @if ( (x) != 0 )@ or the appropriate analogue, and any type @T@ is ``truthy'' by defining an operator overload @int ?!=?( T, zero_t )@.
    21322176\CC makes types truthy by adding a conversion to @bool@;
    2133 prior to the addition of explicit cast operators in \CCeleven, this approach had the pitfall of making truthy types transitively convertable to any numeric type;
     2177prior to the addition of explicit cast operators in \CCeleven, this approach had the pitfall of making truthy types transitively convertible into any numeric type;
    21342178\CFA avoids this issue.
    21352179
     
    21422186
    21432187
    2144 \subsection{User Literals}
     2188\subsection{User literals}
    21452189
    21462190For readability, it is useful to associate units to scale literals, \eg weight (stone, pound, kilogram) or time (seconds, minutes, hours).
    2147 The left of Figure~\ref{f:UserLiteral} shows the \CFA alternative call-syntax (postfix: literal argument before function name), using the backquote, to convert basic literals into user literals.
     2191The left of Figure~\ref{f:UserLiteral} shows the \CFA alternative call syntax (postfix: literal argument before function name), using the backquote, to convert basic literals into user literals.
    21482192The backquote is a small character, making the unit (function name) predominate.
    2149 For examples, the multi-precision integer-type in Section~\ref{s:MultiPrecisionIntegers} has user literals:
     2193For examples, the multiprecision integer type in Section~\ref{s:MultiPrecisionIntegers} has the following user literals.
    21502194{\lstset{language=CFA,moredelim=**[is][\color{red}]{|}{|},deletedelim=**[is][]{`}{`}}
    21512195\begin{cfa}
     
    21532197y = "12345678901234567890123456789"|`mp| + "12345678901234567890123456789"|`mp|;
    21542198\end{cfa}
    2155 Because \CFA uses a standard function, all types and literals are applicable, as well as overloading and conversions, where @?`@ denotes a postfix-function name and @`@ denotes a postfix-function call.
     2199Because \CFA uses a standard function, all types and literals are applicable, as well as overloading and conversions, where @?`@ denotes a postfix-function name and @`@  denotes a postfix-function call.
    21562200}%
    21572201\begin{cquote}
     
    21952239\end{cquote}
    21962240
    2197 The right of Figure~\ref{f:UserLiteral} shows the equivalent \CC version using the underscore for the call-syntax.
     2241The right of Figure~\ref{f:UserLiteral} shows the equivalent \CC version using the underscore for the call syntax.
    21982242However, \CC restricts the types, \eg @unsigned long long int@ and @long double@ to represent integral and floating literals.
    21992243After which, user literals must match (no conversions);
     
    22022246\begin{figure}
    22032247\centering
     2248\fontsize{9bp}{11bp}\selectfont
    22042249\lstset{language=CFA,moredelim=**[is][\color{red}]{|}{|},deletedelim=**[is][]{`}{`}}
    22052250\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    22572302\end{tabular}
    22582303\lstMakeShortInline@%
    2259 \caption{User Literal}
     2304\caption{User literal}
    22602305\label{f:UserLiteral}
    22612306\end{figure}
     
    22652310\label{sec:libraries}
    22662311
    2267 As stated in Section~\ref{sec:poly-fns}, \CFA inherits a large corpus of library code, where other programming languages must rewrite or provide fragile inter-language communication with C.
     2312As stated in Section~\ref{sec:poly-fns}, \CFA inherits a large corpus of library code, where other programming languages must rewrite or provide fragile interlanguage communication with C.
    22682313\CFA has replacement libraries condensing hundreds of existing C names into tens of \CFA overloaded names, all without rewriting the actual computations.
    2269 In many cases, the interface is an inline wrapper providing overloading during compilation but zero cost at runtime.
     2314In many cases, the interface is an inline wrapper providing overloading during compilation but of zero cost at runtime.
    22702315The following sections give a glimpse of the interface reduction to many C libraries.
    22712316In many cases, @signed@/@unsigned@ @char@, @short@, and @_Complex@ functions are available (but not shown) to ensure expression computations remain in a single type, as conversions can distort results.
     
    22752320
    22762321C library @limits.h@ provides lower and upper bound constants for the basic types.
    2277 \CFA name overloading is used to condense these typed constants, \eg:
     2322\CFA name overloading is used to condense these typed constants.
    22782323\begin{cquote}
    22792324\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    22942339\lstMakeShortInline@%
    22952340\end{cquote}
    2296 The result is a significant reduction in names to access typed constants, \eg:
     2341The result is a significant reduction in names to access typed constants.
    22972342\begin{cquote}
    22982343\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    23202365
    23212366C library @math.h@ provides many mathematical functions.
    2322 \CFA function overloading is used to condense these mathematical functions, \eg:
     2367\CFA function overloading is used to condense these mathematical functions.
    23232368\begin{cquote}
    23242369\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    23392384\lstMakeShortInline@%
    23402385\end{cquote}
    2341 The result is a significant reduction in names to access math functions, \eg:
     2386The result is a significant reduction in names to access math functions.
    23422387\begin{cquote}
    23432388\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    23582403\lstMakeShortInline@%
    23592404\end{cquote}
    2360 While \Celeven has type-generic math~\cite[\S~7.25]{C11} in @tgmath.h@ to provide a similar mechanism, these macros are limited, matching a function name with a single set of floating type(s).
     2405While \Celeven has type-generic math (see section~7.25 of the ISO/IEC 9899\cite{C11}) in @tgmath.h@ to provide a similar mechanism, these macros are limited, matching a function name with a single set of floating type(s).
    23612406For example, it is impossible to overload @atan@ for both one and two arguments;
    2362 instead the names @atan@ and @atan2@ are required (see Section~\ref{s:NameOverloading}).
    2363 The key observation is that only a restricted set of type-generic macros are provided for a limited set of function names, which do not generalize across the type system, as in \CFA.
     2407instead, the names @atan@ and @atan2@ are required (see Section~\ref{s:NameOverloading}).
     2408The key observation is that only a restricted set of type-generic macros is provided for a limited set of function names, which do not generalize across the type system, as in \CFA.
    23642409
    23652410
     
    23672412
    23682413C library @stdlib.h@ provides many general functions.
    2369 \CFA function overloading is used to condense these utility functions, \eg:
     2414\CFA function overloading is used to condense these utility functions.
    23702415\begin{cquote}
    23712416\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    23862431\lstMakeShortInline@%
    23872432\end{cquote}
    2388 The result is a significant reduction in names to access utility functions, \eg:
     2433The result is a significant reduction in names to access the utility functions.
    23892434\begin{cquote}
    23902435\lstDeleteShortInline@%
     
    24052450\lstMakeShortInline@%
    24062451\end{cquote}
    2407 In additon, there are polymorphic functions, like @min@ and @max@, that work on any type with operators @?<?@ or @?>?@.
     2452In addition, there are polymorphic functions, like @min@ and @max@, that work on any type with operator @?<?@ or @?>?@.
    24082453
    24092454The following shows one example where \CFA \emph{extends} an existing standard C interface to reduce complexity and provide safety.
    2410 C/\Celeven provide a number of complex and overlapping storage-management operation to support the following capabilities:
    2411 \begin{description}%[topsep=3pt,itemsep=2pt,parsep=0pt]
     2455C/\Celeven provide a number of complex and overlapping storage-management operations to support the following capabilities.
     2456\begin{list}{}{\itemsep=0pt\parsep=0pt\labelwidth=0pt\leftmargin\parindent\itemindent-\leftmargin\let\makelabel\descriptionlabel}
    24122457\item[fill]
    24132458an allocation with a specified character.
    24142459\item[resize]
    24152460an existing allocation to decrease or increase its size.
    2416 In either case, new storage may or may not be allocated and, if there is a new allocation, as much data from the existing allocation is copied.
     2461In either case, new storage may or may not be allocated, and if there is a new allocation, as much data from the existing allocation are copied.
    24172462For an increase in storage size, new storage after the copied data may be filled.
     2463\newpage
    24182464\item[align]
    24192465an allocation on a specified memory boundary, \eg, an address multiple of 64 or 128 for cache-line purposes.
     
    24212467allocation with a specified number of elements.
    24222468An array may be filled, resized, or aligned.
    2423 \end{description}
    2424 Table~\ref{t:StorageManagementOperations} shows the capabilities provided by C/\Celeven allocation-functions and how all the capabilities can be combined into two \CFA functions.
    2425 \CFA storage-management functions extend the C equivalents by overloading, providing shallow type-safety, and removing the need to specify the base allocation-size.
    2426 Figure~\ref{f:StorageAllocation} contrasts \CFA and C storage-allocation performing the same operations with the same type safety.
     2469\end{list}
     2470Table~\ref{t:StorageManagementOperations} shows the capabilities provided by C/\Celeven allocation functions and how all the capabilities can be combined into two \CFA functions.
     2471\CFA storage-management functions extend the C equivalents by overloading, providing shallow type safety, and removing the need to specify the base allocation size.
     2472Figure~\ref{f:StorageAllocation} contrasts \CFA and C storage allocation performing the same operations with the same type safety.
    24272473
    24282474\begin{table}
    2429 \caption{Storage-Management Operations}
     2475\caption{Storage-management operations}
    24302476\label{t:StorageManagementOperations}
    24312477\centering
    24322478\lstDeleteShortInline@%
    24332479\lstMakeShortInline~%
    2434 \begin{tabular}{@{}r|r|l|l|l|l@{}}
    2435 \multicolumn{1}{c}{}&           & \multicolumn{1}{c|}{fill}     & resize        & align & array \\
    2436 \hline
     2480\begin{tabular}{@{}rrllll@{}}
     2481\multicolumn{1}{c}{}&           & \multicolumn{1}{c}{fill}      & resize        & align & array \\
    24372482C               & ~malloc~                      & no                    & no            & no            & no    \\
    24382483                & ~calloc~                      & yes (0 only)  & no            & no            & yes   \\
     
    24402485                & ~memalign~            & no                    & no            & yes           & no    \\
    24412486                & ~posix_memalign~      & no                    & no            & yes           & no    \\
    2442 \hline
    24432487C11             & ~aligned_alloc~       & no                    & no            & yes           & no    \\
    2444 \hline
    24452488\CFA    & ~alloc~                       & yes/copy              & no/yes        & no            & yes   \\
    24462489                & ~align_alloc~         & yes                   & no            & yes           & yes   \\
     
    24522495\begin{figure}
    24532496\centering
     2497\fontsize{9bp}{11bp}\selectfont
    24542498\begin{cfa}[aboveskip=0pt,xleftmargin=0pt]
    24552499size_t  dim = 10;                                                       $\C{// array dimension}$
     
    24892533\end{tabular}
    24902534\lstMakeShortInline@%
    2491 \caption{\CFA versus C Storage-Allocation}
     2535\caption{\CFA versus C storage allocation}
    24922536\label{f:StorageAllocation}
    24932537\end{figure}
    24942538
    24952539Variadic @new@ (see Section~\ref{sec:variadic-tuples}) cannot support the same overloading because extra parameters are for initialization.
    2496 Hence, there are @new@ and @anew@ functions for single and array variables, and the fill value is the arguments to the constructor, \eg:
     2540Hence, there are @new@ and @anew@ functions for single and array variables, and the fill value is the arguments to the constructor.
    24972541\begin{cfa}
    24982542struct S { int i, j; };
     
    25012545S * as = anew( dim, 2, 3 );                                     $\C{// each array element initialized to 2, 3}$
    25022546\end{cfa}
    2503 Note, \CC can only initialize array elements via the default constructor.
    2504 
    2505 Finally, the \CFA memory-allocator has \newterm{sticky properties} for dynamic storage: fill and alignment are remembered with an object's storage in the heap.
     2547Note that \CC can only initialize array elements via the default constructor.
     2548
     2549Finally, the \CFA memory allocator has \newterm{sticky properties} for dynamic storage: fill and alignment are remembered with an object's storage in the heap.
    25062550When a @realloc@ is performed, the sticky properties are respected, so that new storage is correctly aligned and initialized with the fill character.
    25072551
     
    25102554\label{s:IOLibrary}
    25112555
    2512 The goal of \CFA I/O is to simplify the common cases, while fully supporting polymorphism and user defined types in a consistent way.
     2556The goal of \CFA I/O is to simplify the common cases, while fully supporting polymorphism and user-defined types in a consistent way.
    25132557The approach combines ideas from \CC and Python.
    25142558The \CFA header file for the I/O library is @fstream@.
     
    25392583\lstMakeShortInline@%
    25402584\end{cquote}
    2541 The \CFA form has half the characters of the \CC form, and is similar to Python I/O with respect to implicit separators.
     2585The \CFA form has half the characters of the \CC form and is similar to Python I/O with respect to implicit separators.
    25422586Similar simplification occurs for tuple I/O, which prints all tuple values separated by ``\lstinline[showspaces=true]@, @''.
    25432587\begin{cfa}
     
    25722616\lstMakeShortInline@%
    25732617\end{cquote}
    2574 There is a weak similarity between the \CFA logical-or operator and the Shell pipe-operator for moving data, where data flows in the correct direction for input but the opposite direction for output.
     2618There is a weak similarity between the \CFA logical-or operator and the Shell pipe operator for moving data, where data flow in the correct direction for input but in the opposite direction for output.
    25752619\begin{comment}
    25762620The implicit separator character (space/blank) is a separator not a terminator.
     
    25932637\end{itemize}
    25942638\end{comment}
    2595 There are functions to set and get the separator string, and manipulators to toggle separation on and off in the middle of output.
    2596 
    2597 
    2598 \subsection{Multi-precision Integers}
     2639There are functions to set and get the separator string and manipulators to toggle separation on and off in the middle of output.
     2640
     2641
     2642\subsection{Multiprecision integers}
    25992643\label{s:MultiPrecisionIntegers}
    26002644
    2601 \CFA has an interface to the GMP multi-precision signed-integers~\cite{GMP}, similar to the \CC interface provided by GMP.
    2602 The \CFA interface wraps GMP functions into operator functions to make programming with multi-precision integers identical to using fixed-sized integers.
    2603 The \CFA type name for multi-precision signed-integers is @Int@ and the header file is @gmp@.
    2604 Figure~\ref{f:GMPInterface} shows a multi-precision factorial-program contrasting the GMP interface in \CFA and C.
    2605 
    2606 \begin{figure}
     2645\CFA has an interface to the GNU multiple precision (GMP) signed integers~\cite{GMP}, similar to the \CC interface provided by GMP.
     2646The \CFA interface wraps GMP functions into operator functions to make programming with multiprecision integers identical to using fixed-sized integers.
     2647The \CFA type name for multiprecision signed integers is @Int@ and the header file is @gmp@.
     2648Figure~\ref{f:GMPInterface} shows a multiprecision factorial program contrasting the GMP interface in \CFA and C.
     2649
     2650\begin{figure}[b]
    26072651\centering
     2652\fontsize{9bp}{11bp}\selectfont
    26082653\lstDeleteShortInline@%
    26092654\begin{tabular}{@{}l@{\hspace{3\parindentlnth}}l@{}}
     
    26362681\end{tabular}
    26372682\lstMakeShortInline@%
    2638 \caption{GMP Interface \CFA versus C}
     2683\caption{GMP interface \CFA versus C}
    26392684\label{f:GMPInterface}
    26402685\end{figure}
    26412686
    26422687
     2688\vspace{-4pt}
    26432689\section{Polymorphism Evaluation}
    26442690\label{sec:eval}
     
    26492695% Though \CFA provides significant added functionality over C, these features have a low runtime penalty.
    26502696% In fact, it is shown that \CFA's generic programming can enable faster runtime execution than idiomatic @void *@-based C code.
    2651 The experiment is a set of generic-stack micro-benchmarks~\cite{CFAStackEvaluation} in C, \CFA, and \CC (see implementations in Appendix~\ref{sec:BenchmarkStackImplementations}).
     2697The experiment is a set of generic-stack microbenchmarks~\cite{CFAStackEvaluation} in C, \CFA, and \CC (see implementations in Appendix~\ref{sec:BenchmarkStackImplementations}).
    26522698Since all these languages share a subset essentially comprising standard C, maximal-performance benchmarks should show little runtime variance, differing only in length and clarity of source code.
    26532699A more illustrative comparison measures the costs of idiomatic usage of each language's features.
    2654 Figure~\ref{fig:BenchmarkTest} shows the \CFA benchmark tests for a generic stack based on a singly linked-list.
     2700Figure~\ref{fig:BenchmarkTest} shows the \CFA benchmark tests for a generic stack based on a singly linked list.
    26552701The benchmark test is similar for the other languages.
    26562702The experiment uses element types @int@ and @pair(short, char)@, and pushes $N=40M$ elements on a generic stack, copies the stack, clears one of the stacks, and finds the maximum value in the other stack.
    26572703
    26582704\begin{figure}
     2705\fontsize{9bp}{11bp}\selectfont
    26592706\begin{cfa}[xleftmargin=3\parindentlnth,aboveskip=0pt,belowskip=0pt]
    26602707int main() {
     
    26762723}
    26772724\end{cfa}
    2678 \caption{\protect\CFA Benchmark Test}
     2725\caption{\protect\CFA benchmark test}
    26792726\label{fig:BenchmarkTest}
     2727\vspace*{-10pt}
    26802728\end{figure}
    26812729
    2682 The structure of each benchmark implemented is: C with @void *@-based polymorphism, \CFA with parametric polymorphism, \CC with templates, and \CC using only class inheritance for polymorphism, called \CCV.
     2730The structure of each benchmark implemented is C with @void *@-based polymorphism, \CFA with parametric polymorphism, \CC with templates, and \CC using only class inheritance for polymorphism, called \CCV.
    26832731The \CCV variant illustrates an alternative object-oriented idiom where all objects inherit from a base @object@ class, mimicking a Java-like interface;
    2684 hence runtime checks are necessary to safely down-cast objects.
    2685 The most notable difference among the implementations is in memory layout of generic types: \CFA and \CC inline the stack and pair elements into corresponding list and pair nodes, while C and \CCV lack such a capability and instead must store generic objects via pointers to separately-allocated objects.
    2686 Note, the C benchmark uses unchecked casts as C has no runtime mechanism to perform such checks, while \CFA and \CC provide type-safety statically.
     2732hence, runtime checks are necessary to safely downcast objects.
     2733The most notable difference among the implementations is in memory layout of generic types: \CFA and \CC inline the stack and pair elements into corresponding list and pair nodes, whereas C and \CCV lack such capability and, instead, must store generic objects via pointers to separately allocated objects.
     2734Note that the C benchmark uses unchecked casts as C has no runtime mechanism to perform such checks, whereas \CFA and \CC provide type safety statically.
    26872735
    26882736Figure~\ref{fig:eval} and Table~\ref{tab:eval} show the results of running the benchmark in Figure~\ref{fig:BenchmarkTest} and its C, \CC, and \CCV equivalents.
    2689 The graph plots the median of 5 consecutive runs of each program, with an initial warm-up run omitted.
     2737The graph plots the median of five consecutive runs of each program, with an initial warm-up run omitted.
    26902738All code is compiled at \texttt{-O2} by gcc or g++ 6.4.0, with all \CC code compiled as \CCfourteen.
    26912739The benchmarks are run on an Ubuntu 16.04 workstation with 16 GB of RAM and a 6-core AMD FX-6300 CPU with 3.5 GHz maximum clock frequency.
     
    26932741\begin{figure}
    26942742\centering
    2695 \input{timing}
    2696 \caption{Benchmark Timing Results (smaller is better)}
     2743\resizebox{0.7\textwidth}{!}{\input{timing}}
     2744\caption{Benchmark timing results (smaller is better)}
    26972745\label{fig:eval}
     2746\vspace*{-10pt}
    26982747\end{figure}
    26992748
    27002749\begin{table}
     2750\vspace*{-10pt}
    27012751\caption{Properties of benchmark code}
    27022752\label{tab:eval}
    27032753\centering
     2754\vspace*{-4pt}
    27042755\newcommand{\CT}[1]{\multicolumn{1}{c}{#1}}
    2705 \begin{tabular}{rrrrr}
    2706                                                                         & \CT{C}        & \CT{\CFA}     & \CT{\CC}      & \CT{\CCV}             \\ \hline
    2707 maximum memory usage (MB)                       & 10,001        & 2,502         & 2,503         & 11,253                \\
     2756\begin{tabular}{lrrrr}
     2757                                                                        & \CT{C}        & \CT{\CFA}     & \CT{\CC}      & \CT{\CCV}             \\
     2758maximum memory usage (MB)                       & 10\,001       & 2\,502        & 2\,503        & 11\,253               \\
    27082759source code size (lines)                        & 201           & 191           & 125           & 294                   \\
    27092760redundant type annotations (lines)      & 27            & 0                     & 2                     & 16                    \\
    27102761binary size (KB)                                        & 14            & 257           & 14            & 37                    \\
    27112762\end{tabular}
     2763\vspace*{-16pt}
    27122764\end{table}
    27132765
    2714 The C and \CCV variants are generally the slowest with the largest memory footprint, because of their less-efficient memory layout and the pointer-indirection necessary to implement generic types;
     2766\enlargethispage{-10pt}
     2767The C and \CCV variants are generally the slowest with the largest memory footprint, due to their less-efficient memory layout and the pointer indirection necessary to implement generic types;
    27152768this inefficiency is exacerbated by the second level of generic types in the pair benchmarks.
    2716 By contrast, the \CFA and \CC variants run in roughly equivalent time for both the integer and pair because of equivalent storage layout, with the inlined libraries (\ie no separate compilation) and greater maturity of the \CC compiler contributing to its lead.
    2717 \CCV is slower than C largely due to the cost of runtime type-checking of down-casts (implemented with @dynamic_cast@);
     2769By contrast, the \CFA and \CC variants run in roughly equivalent time for both the integer and pair because of the equivalent storage layout, with the inlined libraries (\ie no separate compilation) and greater maturity of the \CC compiler contributing to its lead.
     2770\CCV is slower than C largely due to the cost of runtime type checking of downcasts (implemented with @dynamic_cast@).
    27182771The outlier for \CFA, pop @pair@, results from the complexity of the generated-C polymorphic code.
    27192772The gcc compiler is unable to optimize some dead code and condense nested calls;
     
    27212774Finally, the binary size for \CFA is larger because of static linking with the \CFA libraries.
    27222775
    2723 \CFA is also competitive in terms of source code size, measured as a proxy for programmer effort. The line counts in Table~\ref{tab:eval} include implementations of @pair@ and @stack@ types for all four languages for purposes of direct comparison, though it should be noted that \CFA and \CC have pre-written data structures in their standard libraries that programmers would generally use instead. Use of these standard library types has minimal impact on the performance benchmarks, but shrinks the \CFA and \CC benchmarks to 39 and 42 lines, respectively.
     2776\CFA is also competitive in terms of source code size, measured as a proxy for programmer effort. The line counts in Table~\ref{tab:eval} include implementations of @pair@ and @stack@ types for all four languages for purposes of direct comparison, although it should be noted that \CFA and \CC have prewritten data structures in their standard libraries that programmers would generally use instead. Use of these standard library types has minimal impact on the performance benchmarks, but shrinks the \CFA and \CC benchmarks to 39 and 42 lines, respectively.
    27242777The difference between the \CFA and \CC line counts is primarily declaration duplication to implement separate compilation; a header-only \CFA library would be similar in length to the \CC version.
    2725 On the other hand, C does not have a generic collections-library in its standard distribution, resulting in frequent reimplementation of such collection types by C programmers.
    2726 \CCV does not use the \CC standard template library by construction, and in fact includes the definition of @object@ and wrapper classes for @char@, @short@, and @int@ in its line count, which inflates this count somewhat, as an actual object-oriented language would include these in the standard library;
     2778On the other hand, C does not have a generic collections library in its standard distribution, resulting in frequent reimplementation of such collection types by C programmers.
     2779\CCV does not use the \CC standard template library by construction and, in fact, includes the definition of @object@ and wrapper classes for @char@, @short@, and @int@ in its line count, which inflates this count somewhat, as an actual object-oriented language would include these in the standard library;
    27272780with their omission, the \CCV line count is similar to C.
    27282781We justify the given line count by noting that many object-oriented languages do not allow implementing new interfaces on library types without subclassing or wrapper types, which may be similarly verbose.
    27292782
    2730 Line-count is a fairly rough measure of code complexity;
    2731 another important factor is how much type information the programmer must specify manually, especially where that information is not compiler-checked.
    2732 Such unchecked type information produces a heavier documentation burden and increased potential for runtime bugs, and is much less common in \CFA than C, with its manually specified function pointer arguments and format codes, or \CCV, with its extensive use of un-type-checked downcasts, \eg @object@ to @integer@ when popping a stack.
     2783Line count is a fairly rough measure of code complexity;
     2784another important factor is how much type information the programmer must specify manually, especially where that information is not compiler checked.
     2785Such unchecked type information produces a heavier documentation burden and increased potential for runtime bugs and is much less common in \CFA than C, with its manually specified function pointer arguments and format codes, or \CCV, with its extensive use of un-type-checked downcasts, \eg @object@ to @integer@ when popping a stack.
    27332786To quantify this manual typing, the ``redundant type annotations'' line in Table~\ref{tab:eval} counts the number of lines on which the type of a known variable is respecified, either as a format specifier, explicit downcast, type-specific function, or by name in a @sizeof@, struct literal, or @new@ expression.
    2734 The \CC benchmark uses two redundant type annotations to create a new stack nodes, while the C and \CCV benchmarks have several such annotations spread throughout their code.
     2787The \CC benchmark uses two redundant type annotations to create a new stack nodes, whereas the C and \CCV benchmarks have several such annotations spread throughout their code.
    27352788The \CFA benchmark is able to eliminate all redundant type annotations through use of the polymorphic @alloc@ function discussed in Section~\ref{sec:libraries}.
    27362789
    2737 We conjecture these results scale across most generic data-types as the underlying polymorphism implement is constant.
    2738 
    2739 
     2790We conjecture that these results scale across most generic data types as the underlying polymorphism implement is constant.
     2791
     2792
     2793\vspace*{-8pt}
    27402794\section{Related Work}
    27412795\label{s:RelatedWork}
     
    27532807\CC provides three disjoint polymorphic extensions to C: overloading, inheritance, and templates.
    27542808The overloading is restricted because resolution does not use the return type, inheritance requires learning object-oriented programming and coping with a restricted nominal-inheritance hierarchy, templates cannot be separately compiled resulting in compilation/code bloat and poor error messages, and determining how these mechanisms interact and which to use is confusing.
    2755 In contrast, \CFA has a single facility for polymorphic code supporting type-safe separate-compilation of polymorphic functions and generic (opaque) types, which uniformly leverage the C procedural paradigm.
     2809In contrast, \CFA has a single facility for polymorphic code supporting type-safe separate compilation of polymorphic functions and generic (opaque) types, which uniformly leverage the C procedural paradigm.
    27562810The key mechanism to support separate compilation is \CFA's \emph{explicit} use of assumed type properties.
    2757 Until \CC concepts~\cite{C++Concepts} are standardized (anticipated for \CCtwenty), \CC provides no way to specify the requirements of a generic function beyond compilation errors during template expansion;
     2811Until \CC concepts~\cite{C++Concepts} are standardized (anticipated for \CCtwenty), \CC provides no way of specifying the requirements of a generic function beyond compilation errors during template expansion;
    27582812furthermore, \CC concepts are restricted to template polymorphism.
    27592813
    27602814Cyclone~\cite{Grossman06} also provides capabilities for polymorphic functions and existential types, similar to \CFA's @forall@ functions and generic types.
    2761 Cyclone existential types can include function pointers in a construct similar to a virtual function-table, but these pointers must be explicitly initialized at some point in the code, a tedious and potentially error-prone process.
     2815Cyclone existential types can include function pointers in a construct similar to a virtual function table, but these pointers must be explicitly initialized at some point in the code, which is a tedious and potentially error-prone process.
    27622816Furthermore, Cyclone's polymorphic functions and types are restricted to abstraction over types with the same layout and calling convention as @void *@, \ie only pointer types and @int@.
    27632817In \CFA terms, all Cyclone polymorphism must be dtype-static.
    27642818While the Cyclone design provides the efficiency benefits discussed in Section~\ref{sec:generic-apps} for dtype-static polymorphism, it is more restrictive than \CFA's general model.
    2765 Smith and Volpano~\cite{Smith98} present Polymorphic C, an ML dialect with polymorphic functions, C-like syntax, and pointer types; it lacks many of C's features, however, most notably structure types, and so is not a practical C replacement.
     2819Smith and Volpano~\cite{Smith98} present Polymorphic C, an ML dialect with polymorphic functions, C-like syntax, and pointer types;
     2820it lacks many of C's features, most notably structure types, and hence, is not a practical C replacement.
    27662821
    27672822Objective-C~\cite{obj-c-book} is an industrially successful extension to C.
    2768 However, Objective-C is a radical departure from C, using an object-oriented model with message-passing.
     2823However, Objective-C is a radical departure from C, using an object-oriented model with message passing.
    27692824Objective-C did not support type-checked generics until recently \cite{xcode7}, historically using less-efficient runtime checking of object types.
    2770 The GObject~\cite{GObject} framework also adds object-oriented programming with runtime type-checking and reference-counting garbage-collection to C;
    2771 these features are more intrusive additions than those provided by \CFA, in addition to the runtime overhead of reference-counting.
    2772 Vala~\cite{Vala} compiles to GObject-based C, adding the burden of learning a separate language syntax to the aforementioned demerits of GObject as a modernization path for existing C code-bases.
    2773 Java~\cite{Java8} included generic types in Java~5, which are type-checked at compilation and type-erased at runtime, similar to \CFA's.
    2774 However, in Java, each object carries its own table of method pointers, while \CFA passes the method pointers separately to maintain a C-compatible layout.
     2825The GObject~\cite{GObject} framework also adds object-oriented programming with runtime type-checking and reference-counting garbage collection to C;
     2826these features are more intrusive additions than those provided by \CFA, in addition to the runtime overhead of reference counting.
     2827Vala~\cite{Vala} compiles to GObject-based C, adding the burden of learning a separate language syntax to the aforementioned demerits of GObject as a modernization path for existing C code bases.
     2828Java~\cite{Java8} included generic types in Java~5, which are type checked at compilation and type erased at runtime, similar to \CFA's.
     2829However, in Java, each object carries its own table of method pointers, whereas \CFA passes the method pointers separately to maintain a C-compatible layout.
    27752830Java is also a garbage-collected, object-oriented language, with the associated resource usage and C-interoperability burdens.
    27762831
    2777 D~\cite{D}, Go, and Rust~\cite{Rust} are modern, compiled languages with abstraction features similar to \CFA traits, \emph{interfaces} in D and Go and \emph{traits} in Rust.
     2832D~\cite{D}, Go, and Rust~\cite{Rust} are modern compiled languages with abstraction features similar to \CFA traits, \emph{interfaces} in D and Go, and \emph{traits} in Rust.
    27782833However, each language represents a significant departure from C in terms of language model, and none has the same level of compatibility with C as \CFA.
    27792834D and Go are garbage-collected languages, imposing the associated runtime overhead.
    27802835The necessity of accounting for data transfer between managed runtimes and the unmanaged C runtime complicates foreign-function interfaces to C.
    27812836Furthermore, while generic types and functions are available in Go, they are limited to a small fixed set provided by the compiler, with no language facility to define more.
    2782 D restricts garbage collection to its own heap by default, while Rust is not garbage-collected, and thus has a lighter-weight runtime more interoperable with C.
     2837D restricts garbage collection to its own heap by default, whereas Rust is not garbage collected and, thus, has a lighter-weight runtime more interoperable with C.
    27832838Rust also possesses much more powerful abstraction capabilities for writing generic code than Go.
    2784 On the other hand, Rust's borrow-checker provides strong safety guarantees but is complex and difficult to learn and imposes a distinctly idiomatic programming style.
     2839On the other hand, Rust's borrow checker provides strong safety guarantees but is complex and difficult to learn and imposes a distinctly idiomatic programming style.
    27852840\CFA, with its more modest safety features, allows direct ports of C code while maintaining the idiomatic style of the original source.
    27862841
    27872842
    2788 \subsection{Tuples/Variadics}
    2789 
     2843\vspace*{-18pt}
     2844\subsection{Tuples/variadics}
     2845
     2846\vspace*{-5pt}
    27902847Many programming languages have some form of tuple construct and/or variadic functions, \eg SETL, C, KW-C, \CC, D, Go, Java, ML, and Scala.
    27912848SETL~\cite{SETL} is a high-level mathematical programming language, with tuples being one of the primary data types.
    27922849Tuples in SETL allow subscripting, dynamic expansion, and multiple assignment.
    2793 C provides variadic functions through @va_list@ objects, but the programmer is responsible for managing the number of arguments and their types, so the mechanism is type unsafe.
     2850C provides variadic functions through @va_list@ objects, but the programmer is responsible for managing the number of arguments and their types;
     2851thus, the mechanism is type unsafe.
    27942852KW-C~\cite{Buhr94a}, a predecessor of \CFA, introduced tuples to C as an extension of the C syntax, taking much of its inspiration from SETL.
    27952853The main contributions of that work were adding MRVF, tuple mass and multiple assignment, and record-member access.
    2796 \CCeleven introduced @std::tuple@ as a library variadic template structure.
     2854\CCeleven introduced @std::tuple@ as a library variadic-template structure.
    27972855Tuples are a generalization of @std::pair@, in that they allow for arbitrary length, fixed-size aggregation of heterogeneous values.
    27982856Operations include @std::get<N>@ to extract values, @std::tie@ to create a tuple of references used for assignment, and lexicographic comparisons.
    2799 \CCseventeen proposes \emph{structured bindings}~\cite{Sutter15} to eliminate pre-declaring variables and use of @std::tie@ for binding the results.
    2800 This extension requires the use of @auto@ to infer the types of the new variables, so complicated expressions with a non-obvious type must be documented with some other mechanism.
     2857\CCseventeen proposes \emph{structured bindings}~\cite{Sutter15} to eliminate predeclaring variables and the use of @std::tie@ for binding the results.
     2858This extension requires the use of @auto@ to infer the types of the new variables; hence, complicated expressions with a nonobvious type must be documented with some other mechanism.
    28012859Furthermore, structured bindings are not a full replacement for @std::tie@, as it always declares new variables.
    28022860Like \CC, D provides tuples through a library variadic-template structure.
    28032861Go does not have tuples but supports MRVF.
    2804 Java's variadic functions appear similar to C's but are type-safe using homogeneous arrays, which are less useful than \CFA's heterogeneously-typed variadic functions.
     2862Java's variadic functions appear similar to C's but are type safe using homogeneous arrays, which are less useful than \CFA's heterogeneously typed variadic functions.
    28052863Tuples are a fundamental abstraction in most functional programming languages, such as Standard ML~\cite{sml}, Haskell, and Scala~\cite{Scala}, which decompose tuples using pattern matching.
    28062864
    28072865
     2866\vspace*{-18pt}
    28082867\subsection{C Extensions}
    28092868
    2810 \CC is the best known C-based language, and is similar to \CFA in that both are extensions to C with source and runtime backwards compatibility.
    2811 Specific difference between \CFA and \CC have been identified in prior sections, with a final observation that \CFA has equal or fewer tokens to express the same notion in many cases.
     2869\vspace*{-5pt}
     2870\CC is the best known C-based language and is similar to \CFA in that both are extensions to C with source and runtime backward compatibility.
     2871Specific differences between \CFA and \CC have been identified in prior sections, with a final observation that \CFA has equal or fewer tokens to express the same notion in many cases.
    28122872The key difference in design philosophies is that \CFA is easier for C programmers to understand by maintaining a procedural paradigm and avoiding complex interactions among extensions.
    28132873\CC, on the other hand, has multiple overlapping features (such as the three forms of polymorphism), many of which have complex interactions with its object-oriented design.
    2814 As a result, \CC has a steep learning curve for even experienced C programmers, especially when attempting to maintain performance equivalent to C legacy-code.
    2815 
    2816 There are several other C extension-languages with less usage and even more dramatic changes than \CC.
    2817 Objective-C and Cyclone are two other extensions to C with different design goals than \CFA, as discussed above.
     2874As a result, \CC has a steep learning curve for even experienced C programmers, especially when attempting to maintain performance equivalent to C legacy code.
     2875
     2876There are several other C extension languages with less usage and even more dramatic changes than \CC.
     2877\mbox{Objective-C} and Cyclone are two other extensions to C with different design goals than \CFA, as discussed above.
    28182878Other languages extend C with more focused features.
    28192879$\mu$\CC~\cite{uC++book}, CUDA~\cite{Nickolls08}, ispc~\cite{Pharr12}, and Sierra~\cite{Leissa14} add concurrent or data-parallel primitives to C or \CC;
    2820 data-parallel features have not yet been added to \CFA, but are easily incorporated within its design, while concurrency primitives similar to those in $\mu$\CC have already been added~\cite{Delisle18}.
    2821 Finally, CCured~\cite{Necula02} and Ironclad \CC~\cite{DeLozier13} attempt to provide a more memory-safe C by annotating pointer types with garbage collection information; type-checked polymorphism in \CFA covers several of C's memory-safety issues, but more aggressive approaches such as annotating all pointer types with their nullability or requiring runtime garbage collection are contradictory to \CFA's backwards compatibility goals.
     2880data-parallel features have not yet been added to \CFA, but are easily incorporated within its design, whereas concurrency primitives similar to those in $\mu$\CC have already been added~\cite{Delisle18}.
     2881Finally, CCured~\cite{Necula02} and Ironclad \CC~\cite{DeLozier13} attempt to provide a more memory-safe C by annotating pointer types with garbage collection information; type-checked polymorphism in \CFA covers several of C's memory-safety issues, but more aggressive approaches such as annotating all pointer types with their nullability or requiring runtime garbage collection are contradictory to \CFA's backward compatibility goals.
    28222882
    28232883
    28242884\section{Conclusion and Future Work}
    28252885
    2826 The goal of \CFA is to provide an evolutionary pathway for large C development-environments to be more productive and safer, while respecting the talent and skill of C programmers.
    2827 While other programming languages purport to be a better C, they are in fact new and interesting languages in their own right, but not C extensions.
    2828 The purpose of this paper is to introduce \CFA, and showcase language features that illustrate the \CFA type-system and approaches taken to achieve the goal of evolutionary C extension.
    2829 The contributions are a powerful type-system using parametric polymorphism and overloading, generic types, tuples, advanced control structures, and extended declarations, which all have complex interactions.
     2886The goal of \CFA is to provide an evolutionary pathway for large C development environments to be more productive and safer, while respecting the talent and skill of C programmers.
     2887While other programming languages purport to be a better C, they are, in fact, new and interesting languages in their own right, but not C extensions.
     2888The purpose of this paper is to introduce \CFA, and showcase language features that illustrate the \CFA type system and approaches taken to achieve the goal of evolutionary C extension.
     2889The contributions are a powerful type system using parametric polymorphism and overloading, generic types, tuples, advanced control structures, and extended declarations, which all have complex interactions.
    28302890The work is a challenging design, engineering, and implementation exercise.
    28312891On the surface, the project may appear as a rehash of similar mechanisms in \CC.
    28322892However, every \CFA feature is different than its \CC counterpart, often with extended functionality, better integration with C and its programmers, and always supporting separate compilation.
    2833 All of these new features are being used by the \CFA development-team to build the \CFA runtime-system.
     2893All of these new features are being used by the \CFA development team to build the \CFA runtime system.
    28342894Finally, we demonstrate that \CFA performance for some idiomatic cases is better than C and close to \CC, showing the design is practically applicable.
    28352895
    2836 While all examples in the paper compile and run, a public beta-release of \CFA will take 6--8 months to reduce compilation time, provide better debugging, and add a few more libraries.
    2837 There is also new work on a number of \CFA features, including arrays with size, runtime type-information, virtual functions, user-defined conversions, and modules.
    2838 While \CFA polymorphic functions use dynamic virtual-dispatch with low runtime overhead (see Section~\ref{sec:eval}), it is not as low as \CC template-inlining.
    2839 Hence it may be beneficial to provide a mechanism for performance-sensitive code.
    2840 Two promising approaches are an @inline@ annotation at polymorphic function call sites to create a template-specialization of the function (provided the code is visible) or placing an @inline@ annotation on polymorphic function-definitions to instantiate a specialized version for some set of types (\CC template specialization).
    2841 These approaches are not mutually exclusive and allow performance optimizations to be applied only when necessary, without suffering global code-bloat.
    2842 In general, we believe separate compilation, producing smaller code, works well with loaded hardware-caches, which may offset the benefit of larger inlined-code.
     2896While all examples in the paper compile and run, there are ongoing efforts to reduce compilation time, provide better debugging, and add more libraries;
     2897when this work is complete in early 2019, a public beta release will be available at \url{https://github.com/cforall/cforall}.
     2898There is also new work on a number of \CFA features, including arrays with size, runtime type information, virtual functions, user-defined conversions, and modules.
     2899While \CFA polymorphic functions use dynamic virtual dispatch with low runtime overhead (see Section~\ref{sec:eval}), it is not as low as \CC template inlining.
     2900Hence, it may be beneficial to provide a mechanism for performance-sensitive code.
     2901Two promising approaches are an @inline@ annotation at polymorphic function call sites to create a template specialization of the function (provided the code is visible) or placing an @inline@ annotation on polymorphic function definitions to instantiate a specialized version for some set of types (\CC template specialization).
     2902 These approaches are not mutually exclusive and allow performance optimizations to be applied only when necessary, without suffering global code bloat.
     2903In general, we believe separate compilation, producing smaller code, works well with loaded hardware caches, which may offset the benefit of larger inlined code.
    28432904
    28442905
    28452906\section{Acknowledgments}
    28462907
    2847 The authors would like to recognize the design assistance of Glen Ditchfield, Richard Bilson, Thierry Delisle, Andrew Beach and Brice Dobry on the features described in this paper, and thank Magnus Madsen for feedback on the writing.
    2848 Funding for this project has been provided by Huawei Ltd.\ (\url{http://www.huawei.com}), and Aaron Moss and Peter Buhr are partially funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
     2908The authors would like to recognize the design assistance of Glen Ditchfield, Richard Bilson, Thierry Delisle, Andrew Beach, and Brice Dobry on the features described in this paper and thank Magnus Madsen for feedback on the writing.
     2909Funding for this project was provided by Huawei Ltd (\url{http://www.huawei.com}), and Aaron Moss and Peter Buhr were partially funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
    28492910
    28502911{%
    28512912\fontsize{9bp}{12bp}\selectfont%
     2913\vspace*{-3pt}
    28522914\bibliography{pl}
    28532915}%
     
    29282990
    29292991
     2992\enlargethispage{1000pt}
    29302993\subsection{\CFA}
    29312994\label{s:CforallStack}
     
    29943057
    29953058
     3059\newpage
    29963060\subsection{\CC}
    29973061
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