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The development and use of variables in mathematics and computer science
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Beynon, Meurig and Russ, Steve (1989) The development and use of variables in mathematics and computer science. Coventry, UK: University of Warwick. Department of Computer Science. (Department of Computer Science Research Report). (Unpublished)
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Abstract
There are a wide variety of uses of variables in mathematics which we cope with in practice through conventions and tacit assumptions. Experience with computers has made us articulate, criticise and develop these assumptions much more carefully. Historically the term 'variable quantity' was introduced in the context of describing and calculating changing quantities which corresponded to phenomena in the observable world (e.g. the velocity of fluxion of a body moving under the inverse square law). The evolution of the concept has divorced it from these routes of reference and required us to establish the formal apparatus of interpretation and valuation. While the changes considered are highly structured this may be satisfactory, but computing power invites us to cope with change in vastly more complex, unstructured situations such as in simulation of 'real world' processes. We relate this challenge to the distinctive differences in the use of variables in mathematics and practical computing, and we develop a general framework in which all uses of variables can be described in a unified way.
| Item Type: | Report | ||||
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| Subjects: | Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA76 Electronic computers. Computer science. Computer software | ||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Computer Science | ||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Variables (Mathematics) | ||||
| Series Name: | Department of Computer Science Research Report | ||||
| Publisher: | University of Warwick. Department of Computer Science | ||||
| Place of Publication: | Coventry, UK | ||||
| Official Date: | 1989 | ||||
| Dates: |
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| Number: | Number 141 | ||||
| Number of Pages: | 14 | ||||
| DOI: | CS-RR-141 | ||||
| Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
| Theses Department: | Department of Computer Science | ||||
| Status: | Not Peer Reviewed | ||||
| Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
| Related URLs: |
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