Lambda the Ultimate

Programming the Greedy CAM Machine. Erik Ruf. January 2007

The Greedy CAM architecture describes a class of experimental processors that aim to cope with memory latency and enable parallelism by combining a streams-and-kernels execution model with a relational-query-based memory model. This article focuses on the programming abstraction (equivalent to the ISA in more conventional systems) of Greedy CAM systems, as exemplified by a low-level intermediate language. Using a series of small example programs, we demonstrate several programming idioms and analyze their performance using a simple functional-level simulator. We also suggest extensions needed for the implementation of higher-level programming abstractions.

Section 6.8 is on the suitability of LINT, the low-level intermediate language described in the paper, as a target language for the compilation of higher-level abstractions. But comments on the general issues discussed in the paper are welcome as well...

40 years after the invention of OO, I am ready to appreciate objects quite a bit because I can use them in combination with functional programming. Naturally, I call this mix functional OO programming. (I don’t quite count functional objects in C++ or ‘functors’ in Java, a misnomer BTW, as functional programming.)

Ralf lists several of his papers that apply the notion of functional OO programming. He also shares his wish list for future versions of C#.