Equivalence in functional languages with effects

Abstract

Traditionally the view has been that direct expression of control and store mechanisms and clear mathematical semantics are incompatible requirements. This paper shows that adding objects with memory to the call-by-value lambda calculus results in a language with a rich equational theory, satisfying many of the usual laws. Combined with other recent work, this provides evidence that expressive, mathematically clean programming languages are indeed possible. © 1991, Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.