What is Generic Programming ?

The last two decades have seen an ever-growing interest in generic programming. As for most programming paradigms, there are several definitions of generic programming in use. In the simplest view generic programming is equated to a set of language mechanisms for implementing type-safe polymorphic containers, such as List<T> in Java. The notion of generic programming that motivated the design of the Standard Template Library (STL) advocates a broader definition: a programming paradigm for designing and developing reusable and efficient collections of algorithms. The functional programming community uses the term as a synonym for polytypic and type-indexed programming, which involves designing functions that operate on data-types having certain algebraic structures. This paper aims at analyzing core mathematical notions at the foundations of rational approaches to generic programming and library design as reasoned and principled activity. We relate several methodologies used and studied in the imperative and functional programming communities. As a necessary step, we provide a base for common understanding of techniques underpinning generic software components and libraries, and their construction, not limited to a particular linguistic support.

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