Calculation carrying programs - how to code program transformations

Abstract

Proposes a new mechanism called "calculation-carrying programs" that can relax the tension between efficiency and clarity in programming. The idea is to accompany clear programs with some calculation specifying the intention of how to manipulate the programs to be efficient. This calculation specification can be executed automatically by our compiler to derive efficient programs. As a result, each calculation-carrying program becomes a complete document, including a concise specification of the given problem, as well as an effective way to derive both efficient and correct code.