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SPLASH 2019
Sun 20 - Fri 25 October 2019 Athens, Greece
Fri 25 Oct 2019 16:30 - 17:00 at Room 1 - Session 3

λ calculus is a great formal introduction to functional programming. However, its abstract nature poses a challenge for many students as they struggle both with the unfamiliarity of functional programming and with the high abstraction and minimalism of λ calculus. As a result, functional programming classes are often delayed to older students who are hoped to be better prepared for appreciating its qualities, as was the case at the authors’ university as well. 3 years ago, as part of a redesigned curriculum around programming languages education, we have decided to introduce students to various programming paradigms much sooner than before. In doing so, we faced the problem of explaining very theoretical foundational concepts to very young students in a very short time. We have monitored the achievements and shortcomings of the new course over the past years and as a result of our findings have developed Lambdulus, an interactive and visual evaluator of λ calculus expressions that encourages students to explore the mechanisms of λ calculus by treating it not as a theoretical concept, but as a programming language in its own right.

Fri 25 Oct

Displayed time zone: Beirut change

16:00 - 17:30
Session 3SPLASH-E at Room 1
16:00
30m
Full-paper
Theia: Automatically Generating Correct Program State Visualizations
SPLASH-E
Josh Pollock University of Washington, Jared Roesch University of Washington, USA, Doug Woos University of Washington, Zachary Tatlock University of Washington, Seattle
16:30
30m
Full-paper
Lambdulus: Teaching Lambda Calculus Practically
SPLASH-E
Jan Liam Verter Faculty of Information Technology, Czech Technical University in Prague, Petr Maj Czech Technical University
17:00
30m
Talk
Panel & Group Discussion
SPLASH-E
Elisa Baniassad University of British Columbia