Onward! 2015
Sun 25 - Fri 30 October 2015 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
co-located with SPLASH 2015
Wed 28 Oct 2015 15:30 - 16:15 at Grand Station 2 - Session 1 Chair(s): Richard P. Gabriel

What is the definition of 'type'? Having a clear and precise answer to this question would avoid many misunderstandings and prevent meaningless discussions that arise from them. But having such clear and precise answer to this question would also hurt science, "hamper the growth of knowledge" and "deflect the course of investigation into narrow channels of things already understood". In this essay, I argue that not everything we work with needs to be precisely defined. There are many definitions used by different communities, but none of them applies universally. A brief excursion into philosophy of science shows that this is not just tolerable, but necessary for progress. Philosophy also suggests how we can think about this imprecise notion of type.

Wed 28 Oct

Displayed time zone: Eastern Time (US & Canada) change

15:30 - 17:00
Session 1Onward! Essays at Grand Station 2
Chair(s): Richard P. Gabriel Dream Songs, Inc. & IBM Research
15:30
45m
Talk
Against a Universal Definition of Type
Onward! Essays
Tomas Petricek University of Cambridge, UK
DOI Media Attached
16:15
45m
Talk
The Cuban Software Revolution: 2016–2025
Onward! Essays
David M. West Transcendence, USA
DOI