Richard wrote (on 28-08-01 13:38 -0700):
does anyone have a shorter name for a "algebraic data type" --the thing that is created by the declaration beginning with the keyword "data"?
"ADT" is already in use, meaning "abstract data type", in many textbooks like Essentials of Programming Languages.
I have seen ADT used with both meanings.
the best I could come up with is "SPT", short for "sum-of-products" type.
Lots of people just say "datatype", to contrast with simply "type". Other terms are "inductive datatype" and "recursive datatype", and there are other terms which are longer, but I don't know of any shorter ones except "ADT". Maybe "initial algebra". You could also say "signature", though that is not quite the same thing (signatures _induce_ datatypes). -- Frank Atanassow, Information & Computing Sciences, Utrecht University Padualaan 14, PO Box 80.089, 3508 TB Utrecht, Netherlands Tel +31 (030) 253-3261 Fax +31 (030) 251-379