Lists and why they are useful

ABSTRACT

Computers have long been in general use for solving numerical problems and pioneering interest has now switched to their use for non-numerical work, that is, for manipulating symbols. Examples are compiling, studies in artificial intelligence, layout problems, etc. List-processing was a breakthrough in symbol manipulation since it provided a flexible way of organizing the computer memory. The paper explains in a tutorial manner what goes on in the computer memory when list-processing operations are performed, and takes as an example the formal differentiation of an algebraic expression written in Polish notation.

REFERENCES

• 1: John McCarthy, LISP 1.5 Programmer's Manual, The MIT Press, 1962
• 2: Wilkes, M.V. An experiment with a self-compiling compiler for a simple list-processing language. Annual Review of Automatic Programming, Vol.4. Pergamon Press, Oxford. 1964.
• 3: Wiseman, N.E. Application of list-processing methods to the design of interconnections for a fast logic system. The Computer Journal, 6. p.321. 1964.
• 4: Information Processing Language-V Manual. Ed. by Allen Newell. The RAND Corp. 1961.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  E. Data
  E.1 DATA STRUCTURES
      Subjects: Lists, stacks, and queues

General Terms:
Theory