6.891 Adventures in Advanced Symbolic Programming (H)

L MWF1, Room 26-314
Professor Gerald Sussman, gjs@mit.edu, Chris Hanson, cph@csail.mit.edu
Prereq.: 6.001, 6.034, mathematical sophistication
3-0-9

This subject qualifies as an Artificial Intelligence and Applications Engineering Concentration subject.

We will investigate advanced techniques useful for programming symbolic systems, such as compilers, computer-algebra systems, theorem provers, and some artificial intelligence applications. Topics will be chosen dynamically, based on student and faculty interest. Typical topics include:

Control structure and continuations

Embedded languages, levels of language

Interpreted language levels

Methods of organizing generic operations that extend primitives, for example the Scheme Object System (SOS). Canonical Forms and Memoization

Dependency structures and Truth-Maintenance Systems

Constraint Propagation

Pattern-directed invocation

Pattern match and substitution

Unification and Logic

There will be extensive programming assignments, using MIT Scheme.