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A funny thing happened on the way to the formula: demonstrating equality of functions and programs

Published:01 December 1999Publication History
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Abstract

The concept of a function is arguably one of the most fundamental in computer science. It is frequently also one of the most problematic. In particular, students often have difficulty inferring, in a mathematically well-supported manner, equality of functions from equality of function values. That is, the transitions they make from demonstrations of equality of values of functions to demonstrations of equality of those functions themselves are often not well reasoned. In this complementary paper to [GK97] we describe one line of reasoning which we have found helps elucidate the mathematical principles according to which such inferences can correctly be made.

References

  1. {GK97} Gates, A. Q. and Kreinovich, V. Why is a Function Defined as a Set of Ordered Pairs? SIGCSE Bulletin 29, 4(1997), p. 57. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library

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  1. A funny thing happened on the way to the formula: demonstrating equality of functions and programs

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        • Published in

          cover image ACM SIGCSE Bulletin
          ACM SIGCSE Bulletin  Volume 31, Issue 4
          Dec. 1999
          122 pages
          ISSN:0097-8418
          DOI:10.1145/349522
          Issue’s Table of Contents
          • cover image ACM Conferences
            ITiCSE-WGR '99: Working group reports from ITiCSE on Innovation and technology in computer science education
            December 1999
            128 pages
            ISBN:9781450373258
            DOI:10.1145/349316

          Copyright © 1999 ACM

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          Association for Computing Machinery

          New York, NY, United States

          Publication History

          • Published: 1 December 1999

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