Views, Program Transformations, and the Evolutivity Problem in a Functional Language

TL;DR

This paper explores supporting multiple views of programs in a functional language, demonstrating automated transformations between views using Haskell Refactorer for the expression problem.

Contribution

It introduces automated view transformations in Haskell, addressing the tyranny of the dominant decomposition in functional programming.

Findings

Automated transformations between program views are feasible in Haskell.

The Haskell Refactorer can be adapted for view transformations.

Comparison with existing literature highlights advantages of the approach.

Abstract

We report on an experience to support multiple views of programs to solve the tyranny of the dominant decomposition in a functional setting. We consider two possible architectures in Haskell for the classical example of the expression problem. We show how the Haskell Refactorer can be used to transform one view into the other, and the other way back. That transformation is automated and we discuss how the Haskell Refactorer has been adapted to be able to support this automated transformation. Finally, we compare our implementation of views with some of the literature.