1. CS 330 Programming Languages 11 / 16 / 2006 Instructor: Michael Eckmann

2. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Today’s Topics Questions / comments? Look for homework assignment via email by tomorrow. To be due Tuesday night at 11:59 pm. Solution to palindrome in Perl Chapter 6 –pointers –dangling pointer/reference problem –memory leak problem –proposed solutions to these problems Start Scheme

3. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Pointer types –Store memory addresses or nil (no address.) For indirect addressing For dynamic storage management –Can access data at a particular memory address in the heap Provide a way to have data structures that shrink and grow during execution.

4. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Using pointers –Pointer reference (the address) –Indirect reference (aka dereference) gives us what data is in the memory address stored in the pointer Dereferencing is usually explicit (as in C, C++ with the * operator) but it is sometimes implicit (ala Ada) Dereferencing example –variable ptr is a pointer and contains the memory address 7080 –Memory address 7080 contains the integer value 206 –j is a variable of type integer.

5. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers int j; int *ptr; // code missing // to assign val to ptr j = *ptr; // line above assigns // value in address // that ptr points to

6. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Accessing fields of records via pointers to records –C++ (pointer to a struct) –(*ptr).field_name (* dereferences,. accesses field ) –ptr -> field_name ( -> does both ) Because this is a common operation, there's a shorthand –Ada –ptr.field_name (because of implicit dereferencing acts just like -> in C++)

7. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Problems –Dangling pointer (or dangling reference in those languages that don't have pointers) –Memory leakage –Did anyone read about these in the text or know what they are from prior knowledge?

8. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Problems –Dangling pointer (or dangling reference in those languages that don't have pointers) When a pointer contains the address of a variable that was deallocated already example: –pointer p1 points to some heap dynamic variable –pointer p2 = p1 // make p2 also point there –deallocate p1's heap dynamic variable –// now, p2 is a dangling pointer –If programmer cannot explicitly deallocate heap dynamic variables then there will be no possibility of dangling pointers.

9. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Problems –Memory leakage When a pointer's value changes (that is a different address is stored in it) and the address it was pointing to didn't have it's space deallocated Garbage collection (frees deallocated memory for use) –C++ (done explicitly by programmer) –Java (done automagically)

10. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Let's look at these problems in Ada, C/C++, Fortran 95, Java Ada –Pointers are of type access –Handles the dangling pointer problem by design Implicit deallocation of memory at end of scope is done Also allows explicit deallocation by the programmer via the deallocator: Unchecked_Deallocation (which can cause the dangling pointer problem) –Memory leakage Nothing by design to prevent this

11. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Let's look at these problems in Ada, C/C++, Fortran 95, Java C/C++ –Both the dangling pointer problem and memory leakage exist in these languages –Can do pointer arithmetic –Can have pointers to any type and pointers to functions –One use of pointers is to pass variables by reference (so they may be changed within the function) --- contrast with pass by value, where the variable's value is copied to new temporary space in the function. –& is used to get the address of a variable –Examples of this stuff...

12. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers C/C++ int *ptr; int count=30, init=70; ptr = &init; count = *ptr; What does this code do?

13. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers C/C++ int *ptr; // declare a pointer to an int int count=30, init=70; ptr = &init; // store the address of init in ptr count = *ptr; // dereference ptr and store what's in the address // that ptr is pointing to // so what value does count have?

14. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers C/C++ (pointer arithmetic) int *ptr; // declare a pointer to an int int grades[ 100 ]; ptr = grades; // grades is a “pointer” to grades[0] and now // so is ptr *(ptr + 1) // here the + is pointer addition, so it actually adds // the size of one int to ptr so that it dereferences // (ptr + 1) to grades[1] ptr[index]; // can use ptr like an array. // What is the difference between ptr and grades?

15. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Let's look at these problems in Ada, C/C++, Fortran 95, Java Fortran95 –Has dangling pointer problem because allows explicit Deallocation command on a pointer how does that make dangling pointers possible? –Like Ada, pointers are implicitly dereferenced, but Fortran95 also provides a way to explicitly not dereference a pointer What does this mean again? Why might this be?

16. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Let's look at these problems in Ada, C/C++, Fortran 95, Java Java –Anybody know whether we have dangling pointers/references or memory leakage problems in Java?

17. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Reference types in C/C++ and Java and C# –C/C++ reference type is a special kind of pointer type Used when declaring parameters to a function so that it is passed by reference Formal parameter is specified with an & But inside the function, it is implicitly dereferenced. –Makes code more readable and safer Can do same thing with regular pointers but code is less readable (b/c explicit dereferencing required) and less safe (b/c one can alter the address)

18. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Reference types in C/C++ and Java and C# –C/C++ reference type is a special kind of pointer type Would there be any use for passing by reference using a constant reference parameter (that is, one that disallows its contents to be changed)? –Java References replace C++'s pointers –Why? Java references refer to class instances (objects), so arithmetic with them doesn't make sense. No dangling references b/c implicit deallocation

19. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Reference types in C/C++ and Java and C# –C# Has both Java-like references and C++-like pointers. Best (or worst) of both worlds? Pointers are discouraged --- methods that use pointers need to be modified with the unsafe keyword.

20. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Implementation of pointers –Pointers hold an address Solutions to dangling pointer problem –Tombstones A tombstone points to (holds the address of) where the data is (a heap-dynamic variable.) Programmer specified pointers can only point to a tombstone (which in turn points to the actual data.) When deallocate, the tombstone is set to nil. What does this solve? Why aren't they used do you think? --- Know of any languages that use them?

21. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Solutions to dangling pointer problem (continued) –locks-and-keys Pointers and variables need different implementation for this method Pointers are ordered pairs of an integer key and an address. Heap-dynamic variables –include a header cell that stores a lock value –and storage cell(s) for the variable itself During allocation a lock value is calculated and placed in the key portion of the pointer AND the header cell of the variable. Key and header cell are compared when the pointer is dereferenced and if they're the same it's a legal reference otherwise it is an illegal reference (which causes run-time error.)

22. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Solutions to dangling pointer problem (continued) –Locks-and-keys (continued) Multiple pointers may point to the variable but they all must have the same key. When variable is deallocated (explicitly), the variable's header cell is changed to an illegal lock value (so no key will match it ever.) –Any other solutions you can think of to handle the dangling pointer problem?

23. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Solutions to dangling pointer problem (continued) –Any other solutions you can think of to handle the dangling pointer problem? Don't allow programmer to explicitly deallocate heap- dynamic variables. Like Java and LISP. Also like C#'s references (but not like C#'s pointers.)

24. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Solutions to memory leakage problem –Reference counters Store a reference counter for each memory cell whose value is the number of pointers currently pointing to it. When pointers change value or are destroyed, the counter is decremented. It is also checked to see if it is zero. If it is, then the memory can be reclaimed. –Any drawbacks to this method?

25. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Solutions to memory leakage problem –Reference counters (continued) Any drawbacks to this method? –Space –Time –Circular references

26. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Pointers Solutions to memory leakage problem (continued) –Garbage collection Every heap cell needs a bit or possibly a field as a flag to indicate whether or not it contains garbage. When want to reclaim memory the garbage collector will –1. Set all the flags as “containing garbage” –2. Go through the program and determine all the memory that is being pointed to --- and changes the flags for those cells as “not containing garbage” –3. All the ones still marked as “containing garbage” are reclaimed. –All preceding discussion assumed that the heap cells were all the same size. Major difficulties arise when non-uniform size cells are used. Why?

27. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Functional Programming Read the paper “Why Functional Programming Matters” by John Hughes found here: http://www.md.chalmers.se/~rjmh/Papers/whyfp.html (contains a link to a pdf of the paper.) Please read before our next class meeting so we can discuss it together as a class. Suggestions on reading this paper (or any technical paper) –If you don't understand something after a little thought, that's o.k. continue on to get the gist of the whole thing then, come back to what wasn't understood.

28. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Scheme –Static scoping exclusively –Small size –Functions are first-class citizens Can be values of expressions Can be elements of lists Can be assigned to variables Can be passed as parameters –“simple” syntax --- more correct to say consistent? –“simple” semantics

29. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Scheme –Expressions are evaluated by the function EVAL –Literals evaluate to themselves –Function calls are evaluated by First evaluate all the parameter expressions Then evaluate the function after the values of the parameters are known The value of the last expression in the body is the value of the function (sound familiar?) All but the last should be familiar to imperative programmers.

30. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Scheme –Primitive functions Arithmetic: +, -, *, /, ABS, SQRT, REMAINDER, MIN, MAX e.g., (+ 5 2) yields 7 what would (- 24 (* 5 3)) yield? If * is given no parameters, it returns 1 (multiplicative identity.) If + is given no parameters, it returns 0 (additive identity.)

31. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Scheme –Primitive functions If – is given more than two parameters, it acts as if the second through the last are summed and this sum is subtracted from the first. If / is given more than two parameters, it acts as if the second through the last are multiplied together and this product is divided into the first.

32. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Scheme –Primitive functions QUOTE -takes one parameter; returns the parameter without evaluation QUOTE is required because the Scheme interpreter, named EVAL, always evaluates parameters to function applications before applying the function. QUOTE is used to avoid parameter evaluation when it is not appropriate QUOTE can be abbreviated with the apostrophe prefix operator e.g., '(A B) is equivalent to ( QUOTE (A B))

33. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Scheme –If you wanted a list with the symobls / 8 4 in that order and you did this: (/ 8 4) Scheme would evaluate that as a function and the result will be 2 –So, to have the list not be evaluated, use the QUOTE: '(/ 8 4) Scheme gives us the list with those three elements; no evaluation occurs. alternatively (QUOTE (/ 8 4))

34. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Scheme –(DEFINE hello 5.6) –If you wanted the symbol hello instead of the value in some constant named hello 'hello vs. hello –The first one gives us hello –The second one evaluates to 5.6

35. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Scheme CAR takes a list parameter; returns the first element of that list e.g., (CAR '(A B C)) yields A (CAR '((A B) C D)) yields (A B) CDR takes a list parameter; returns the list after removing its first element e.g., (CDR '(A B C)) yields (B C) (CDR '((A B) C D)) yields (C D)

36. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Scheme CONS takes two parameters, the first of which can be either an atom or a list and the second of which is a list; returns a new list that includes the first parameter as its first element and the second parameter as the remainder of its result e.g., (CONS 'A '(B C)) returns (A B C) (CONS '(A B) '(B C)) returns ((A B) B C) LIST - takes any number of parameters; returns a list with the parameters as elements

37. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Scheme –DEFINE – used to create programmer-defined functions / or bind names to values of expressions –When names are bound to values of expressions they are NOT variables, instead they are named constants. –Either two atoms as parms, or two lists. –Example when two atoms are given (creates a named constant): (DEFINE games_in_season 162)

38. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Scheme –DEFINE – used to create programmer-defined functions / or bind names to values of expressions –The form when two lists are given binds the expressions collectively as a function to a function name and its parameters: (DEFINE (func_name parameters) expression {expression} ) –Examples on next slide

39. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Scheme –Examples: (DEFINE (square x) (* x x)) (DEFINE (hypotenuse side1 side1) (SQRT (+ (square side1) (square side2))) ) What would these look like as imperative language functions?

40. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Functional Programming Scheme –Examples: (DEFINE (mystery m) (CAR (CDR m))) What does this function do? How is it called?

41. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Functional Programming Scheme –Examples: (DEFINE (mystery m) (CAR (CDR m))) What does this function do? CDR returns the list remaining after first element removed CAR returns the first element of a list so, a CAR of a CDR is the second element How is it called? (mystery '(W X Y Z))

42. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Functional Programming Scheme –Numeric “predicate” functions return a Boolean –#T or #F –=, <>, >, =, <=, EVEN?, ODD?, ZERO? –Empty list () is considered #F –Any non-empty list is considered #T –Symbolic Atoms and Lists “predicate” functions –EQ?, LIST?, NULL? –Either numeric or symbolic atoms EQV?

43. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Functional Programming Scheme –=, <>, >, =, <=, EVEN?, ODD?, ZERO? –EQ?, LIST?, NULL? –EQV? –Examples: (= n 0) (NULL? somelist) (EQ? 'A (CAR somelist)) (LIST? '() )

44. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Functional Programming Scheme –IF takes three parms (IF predicate then_expression else_expression ) –COND – is like switch / case statements (COND ( predicate1 expression { expression } ) ( predicate2 expression { expression } )... ( predicaten expression { expression } ) ( ELSE expression { expression } ) )

45. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Functional Programming COND –Predicates are evaluated in order until one is #T –Then the expressions that follow that first #T predicate are evaluated and the value of the last one evaluated is the returned value. –If no predicate is #T, then COND returns (), the empty list. –ELSE at the end acts like a default if none of the other predicates are true it will evaluate that one. –Can you see any differences or similarities to switch statements in Java and C++?

46. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Functional Programming COND –Can you see any differences or similarities to switch statements in Java and C++? –In COND, there are implied “breaks” after each predicate (case.)

47. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Scheme Recursion –Scheme programmers typically use recursion in Scheme whenever possible

48. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Functional Programming Example of a function containing an IF (DEFINE (factorial n) (IF (= n 0) 1 (* n (factorial (- n 1))) )

49. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Functional Programming Example of a function containing a COND (DEFINE (compare x y) (COND ( (> x y) ( DISPLAY “x is > y” )) ( (< x y) ( DISPLAY “x is < y” )) ( ELSE ( DISPLAY “x is = y” ) )

50. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Functional Programming Want to try to write a function that determines whether an atom is in a particular list? e.g. (member 'B '(A B C)) should return #T and (member 'X '(A B C)) should return () (which is #F.)

51. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Functional Programming Want to try to write a function that determines whether an atom is in a particular list? e.g. (member 'B '(A B C)) should return #T and (member 'X '(A B C)) should return () (which is #F.) (DEFINE (member atm lis) (COND ((NULL? lis) '()) ((EQ? atm (CAR lis)) #T) (ELSE ( member atm (CDR lis))) )

52. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Scheme when writing functions dealing with lists, if you want to go through the elements one at a time, use (car l) to get the first and recurse on (cdr l) also, you'll need to tell your function when to stop, that is, when the list is null, so (null? l) should be the first thing you check.

53. Michael Eckmann - Skidmore College - CS 330 - Fall 2006 Scheme Let's run DrScheme and try some things out. While we're coding, as I introduce any new built-in functions or anything we haven't seen before I'll explain what they are. I'll then save the code and post it.