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1.4generic Subroutines and Modules

Generic subroutines and modules allow for parametric polymorphism, where the types are specified when invoking functions or classes rather than defining them. This allows for containers that hold collections of different types of objects. Generic programming can use implicit dynamic typing like in Python, or explicit static typing checked at compile time like in Java. Different languages implement generics differently, with approaches like type erasure in Java and separate code generation for each type in C++. Generics are preferable to macros as they avoid problems with multiple evaluations of variables.

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Pravin Shinde
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474 views

1.4generic Subroutines and Modules

Generic subroutines and modules allow for parametric polymorphism, where the types are specified when invoking functions or classes rather than defining them. This allows for containers that hold collections of different types of objects. Generic programming can use implicit dynamic typing like in Python, or explicit static typing checked at compile time like in Java. Different languages implement generics differently, with approaches like type erasure in Java and separate code generation for each type in C++. Generics are preferable to macros as they avoid problems with multiple evaluations of variables.

Uploaded by

Pravin Shinde
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Generic Subroutines and Modules

 Generic modules or classes are particularly valuable for creating containers:


data abstractions that hold a collection of objects
 When defining a function, we don't need to give all the types
 When we invoke the class or function we specify the type:
parametric polymorphism
 Generic subroutines (methods) are needed in generic modules (classes), and may also be useful in their own right (see Java
static generic methods).
 Generic programming in programming languages:
 One approach is implicit parametric polymorphism:
 Dynamic typing.  Just try running the code.
 No checking at compile time - not type safe.
 Python approach.
 An alternative is to have a function that has parameterized types: explicit parametric polymorphism
 Generic classes and methods
 Can be static typed checked  Java approach static boolean allEqual(T a, T b, T c) { return a.equals(b) && b.equals(c);
 Implementation approaches:
 C++:
  generates new code for each type:
 linker can help with that
 allows specialization
 can make the code bigger
 can use types in the function: new T();
 Templates can cause horrible error messages
 Java
 type erasure: replace all type parameters in generic types with their bounds
 Only one instance of the code at run time
 Can't do operations involving the type
 Generics are better than macros:
E.g., take the macro:
#define min(a, b) (a < b) ? a : b
Problem: min(a++, b++)
 Variables a++ or b++ evaluated more than once
C++ generic:
template T min(T a, T b)
{ return (a < b ) ? a : b; }
 Far fewer problems: variables evaluated only once.
Exception Types
 What is an exception?
 a hardware-detected run-time error or unusual condition detected by software
 Examples
arithmetic overflow
end-of-file on input
wrong type for input data
user-defined conditions, not necessarily errors
 What is an exception handler?
code executed when exception occurs
may need a different handler for each type of exception
 Why design in exception handling facilities?
allow user to explicitly handle errors in a uniform manner
Event types

 An event is something to which a running program (a process) needs to respond, but which occurs
outside the program, at an unpredictable time.
 The most common events are inputs to a graphical user interface (GUI) system: keystrokes, mouse
motions, button clicks.
 They may also be network operations or other asynchronous I/O activity: the arrival of a message,
the completion of a previously requested disk operation
 A handler—a special subroutine— is invoked when a given event occurs.
 Thread-Based Handlers:
 In modern programming languages and run-time systems, events are often handled by a separate
thread of control, rather than by spontaneous subroutine calls
 With a separate handler thread, input can again be synchronous: the handler thread makes a system
call to request the next event, and waits for it to occur.
 Meanwhile, the main program continues to execute.
 Many contemporary GUI systems are thread-based.
 most use anonymous inner classes for handlers

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