From Mathematics to Generic Programming

10. Fundamental Programming Concepts

All humans naturally desire to know.Aristotle, Metaphysics I, 1

In this chapter we will introduce some of the important ideas associated with generic programming, including concepts and iterators. We’ll also consider some common programming tasks that rely on them. But we’ll start by looking at the origins of the notion of abstraction.

10.1 Aristotle and Abstraction

The School of Athens, a famous painting by Italian Renaissance painter Raphael, depicts many ancient Greek philosophers (see detail of painting on the next page). At the center are Plato and Aristotle, the two most important philosophers of the ancient world. Plato is pointing upward, while his student Aristotle holds his hand out over the ground. ...