[Stanford] MATH 198: Category Theory and Functional Programming

[michiexile]

W 4.15

Category theory, with an origin in algebra and topology, has found use in recent decades for computer science and logic applications. Possibly most clearly, this is seen in the design of the programming language Haskell - where the categorical paradigm suffuses the language design, and gives rise to several of the language constructs, most prominently the Monad.

In this course, we will teach category theory from first principles with an eye towards its applications to and correspondences with Haskell and the theory of functional programming. We expect students to previously or currently be taking CS242 and to have some level of mathematical maturity. We also expect students to have had contact with linear algebra and discrete mathematics in order to follow the motivating examples behind the theory expounded.

Comments

[juan-gandhi.livejournal.com]

Funny, we are going to start this fall something like "bay area category in cs group", meeting probably somewhere in SF.

(my personal interest is to figure out how we can possibly define functor derivatives and interpret them in programming)

[michiexile]

Make sure I have the details of that group - meeting place/time et.c. and I'll make sure to mention it in class.

[ygam.livejournal.com]

Is it based on something like this book (http://www.amazon.com/Category-Computer-Scientists-Foundations-Computing/dp/0262660717)?

[cema.livejournal.com]

Or maybe this book (http://www.cwru.edu/artsci/math/wells/pub/ctcs.html) (or, rather, this one (http://www.crm.umontreal.ca/pub/Ventes/desc/PM023.html))? :-)

[michiexile]

I'd much rather not say, just yet, which book I'll be using to help produce the lecture notes. It would seem I'm supposed to give and grade homework for this course, and I'd much rather keep half an ace up my sleeve for that.

[cema.livejournal.com]

:-)

[culfinriel.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday!