A Transformation Approach To Implementing Aggregate Operations
Tony Middleton · INFOR Information Systems and Operational Research · 1984
Some of the expressive power of certain programming languages depends on the provision of convenient means of operating on collections, or “aggregates,“ of data values. This paper argues that certain aggregate operations could be implemented hy applying transformations to fragments of a program that access the elements of an aggregate. The techniques provide a means of isolating the mechanics of a restricted set of aggregate operators from the details of the programming mechanism needed to access individual members of the aggregate.