68 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
68 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
@c This document is part of the TAME manual.
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@c Copyright (C) 2019 R-T Specialty, LLC.
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@c Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
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@c under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
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@c any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
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@c Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
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@c A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free
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@c Documentation License''.
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@node Core Concepts
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@chapter Core Concepts
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@helpwanted
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@cindex declarative, programming
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@cindex imperative, programming
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@tame is a @dfn{declarative} programming language@mdash{
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}it @emph{describes} how a program ought to behave rather than
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explicitly telling a computer the steps needed to make it work
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(@dfn{imperative}).
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@tame is a calculator at heart,
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so code written in its language describes mathematical operations.
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Definitions fall primarily under two categories:
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@table @strong
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@cindex classifications
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@item Classifications
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Higher-order logic used to classify data and predicate calculations,
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controlling program flow.
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@cindex calculations
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@item Calculations
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Mathematical operations motivated by linear algebra.
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@end table
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@tame also supports abstracting calculations into @dfn{functions},
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which permits the use of recursion for solving problems that are
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difficult to fit into an algebraic model.
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The language is Turing-complete.
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@cindex metalanguage
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@cindex domain-specific language
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@tame itself is a @dfn{domain-specific language} (DSL)@mdash{
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}it was designed for use in comparative insurance rating systems.
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However,
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it couldn't possibly know all useful abstractions that may be needed
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in the future;
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the domain for which @tame was designed encompasses many
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subdomains as well.
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To accommodate future needs,
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@tame is also a @dfn{metalanguage}@mdash{
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}a language that can be used to program itself.
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The core language is based upon broad mathematical foundations
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that offer great flexibility.
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Its expressive template system allows the creation of abstractions
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that are indistinguishable from core language features,
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and templates have powerful introspective capabilities that allow
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for many useful types of code generation.
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Essentially,
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@tame allows the creation of sub-DSLs.
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Code is written in @tame without regard to order of execution@mdash{
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}the linker will figure that out for you.
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This simplifies the development of systems with complex graphs of
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dependencies.
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@todo{This chapter is a placeholder.
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More to come.}
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