Problems in the ontology of computer programs

  • Authors:

  • Amnon H. Eden;Raymond Turner

  • Affiliations:

  • (Correspd. Tel.: +44 1206 872677/ Fax: +44 1206 872788/ E-mail: eden-atnospam-essex.ac.uk) Department of Computer Science, University of Essex, UK and Center For Inquiry, Amherst, NY, USA;Department of Computer Science, University of Essex, UK

  • Venue:
  • Applied Ontology
  • Year:
  • 2007

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.00

Visualization

Abstract

As a first step in the larger project of charting the ontology of computer programs, we pose three central questions: (1) Can programs, hardware, and metaprograms be organized into a meaningful taxonomy? (2) To what ontology are computer programs committed? (3) What explains the proliferation of programming languages and how do they come about? Taking the complementary perspectives software engineering and mathematical logic, we take inventory of programs and related objects and conclude that the notions of abstraction and concretization take a central role in this investigation.