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Abstracting algebraic effects

Authors:

Dariusz Biernacki,

Piotr Polesiuk,

Filip SieczkowskiAuthors Info & Claims

Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages, Volume 3, Issue POPL

Article No.: 6, Pages 1 - 28

https://doi.org/10.1145/3290319

Published: 02 January 2019 Publication History

Abstract

Proposed originally by Plotkin and Pretnar, algebraic effects and their handlers are a leading-edge approach to computational effects: exceptions, mutable state, nondeterminism, and such. Appreciated for their elegance and expressiveness, they are now progressing into mainstream functional programming languages. In this paper, we introduce and examine programming language constructs that back adoption of programming with algebraic effects on a larger scale in a modular fashion by providing mechanisms for abstraction. We propose two such mechanisms: existential effects (which hide the details of a particular effect from the user) and local effects (which guarantee that no code coming from the outside can interfere with a given effect). The main technical difficulty arises from the dynamic nature of coupling an effectful operation with the right handler during execution, but, as we show in this paper, a carefully designed type system can ensure that this will not break the abstraction. Our main contribution is a novel calculus for algebraic effects and handlers, called λ^HEL, equipped with local and existential algebraic effects, in which the dynamic nature of handlers is kept in check by typed runtime coercions. As a proof of concept, we present an experimental programming language based on our calculus, which provides strong abstraction mechanisms via an ML-style module system.

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Cited By

Yoshioka TSekiyama TIgarashi A(2024)Abstracting Effect Systems for Algebraic Effect HandlersProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36746418:ICFP(455-484)Online publication date: 15-Aug-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3674641
Tang WHillerström DLindley SMorris J(2024)Soundly Handling LinearityProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36328968:POPL(1600-1628)Online publication date: 5-Jan-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3632896
Sieczkowski FPyzik MBiernacki D(2023)A General Fine-Grained Reduction Theory for Effect HandlersProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36078487:ICFP(511-540)Online publication date: 31-Aug-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3607848
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Abstracting algebraic effects
1. Theory of computation
  1. Semantics and reasoning
    1. Program constructs
      1. Control primitives
      2. Type structures
    2. Program semantics
      1. Operational semantics

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cover image Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages

Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages Volume 3, Issue POPL

January 2019

2275 pages

EISSN:2475-1421

DOI:10.1145/3302515

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Copyright © 2019 Owner/Author.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License.

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 02 January 2019

Published in PACMPL Volume 3, Issue POPL

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Cited By

Yoshioka TSekiyama TIgarashi A(2024)Abstracting Effect Systems for Algebraic Effect HandlersProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36746418:ICFP(455-484)Online publication date: 15-Aug-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3674641
Tang WHillerström DLindley SMorris J(2024)Soundly Handling LinearityProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36328968:POPL(1600-1628)Online publication date: 5-Jan-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3632896
Sieczkowski FPyzik MBiernacki D(2023)A General Fine-Grained Reduction Theory for Effect HandlersProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36078487:ICFP(511-540)Online publication date: 31-Aug-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3607848
de Vilhena PPottier F(2023)A Type System for Effect Handlers and Dynamic LabelsProgramming Languages and Systems10.1007/978-3-031-30044-8_9(225-252)Online publication date: 22-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-031-30044-8_9
Ghica DLindley SBravo MPiróg M(2022)High-level effect handlers in C++Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/35634456:OOPSLA2(1639-1667)Online publication date: 31-Oct-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3563445
Melicher DXu AZhao VPotanin AAldrich J(2022)Bounded Abstract EffectsACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems10.1145/349242744:1(1-48)Online publication date: 12-Jan-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3492427
Song YFoo DChin W(2022)Automated Temporal Verification for Algebraic EffectsProgramming Languages and Systems10.1007/978-3-031-21037-2_5(88-109)Online publication date: 25-Nov-2022
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21037-2_5
Schuster PBrachthäuser JOstermann K(2022)Region-based Resource Management and Lexical Exception Handlers in Continuation-Passing StyleProgramming Languages and Systems10.1007/978-3-030-99336-8_18(492-519)Online publication date: 29-Mar-2022
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99336-8_18
Buszka MBiernacki D(2022)Automating the Functional Correspondence Between Higher-Order Evaluators and Abstract MachinesLogic-Based Program Synthesis and Transformation10.1007/978-3-030-98869-2_3(38-59)Online publication date: 13-Mar-2022
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98869-2_3
Brachthäuser J(2022)What You See Is What You Get: Practical Effect Handlers in Capability-Passing StyleErnst Denert Award for Software Engineering 202010.1007/978-3-030-83128-8_3(15-43)Online publication date: 28-Feb-2022
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83128-8_3
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