Philip Zucker • 7/10/2026

Lifting Terms: Making Well Scoped Syntax Dumber

This article discusses the concept of 'terms' in programming language theory and egraphs, challenging the standard definition of a term as a name with an ordered list of children. It explores various alternatives such as keyword arguments, compressed tries using BDDs, parametrized families of terms, fixed vs. arbitrary arity, and containers with algebraic structures like monoids or groups. The post is technical, focusing on data structures and representation choices relevant to rewriting systems and computer science.

0 comments

#Ocaml #Term Rewriting #Agda