Algorithmic Sets

Version vom 8. November 2014, 09:57 Uhr

Definition Algorithmic Set

• We want to define an algorithmic set via a Predicate deciding if an element is part of the set or not.
• In java we could use the functional interface Predicate<T>

public interface Predicate<T>{
       // If test returns true, we consider the element be part of the algorithmic set.
       boolean test(T element);
}

• Such a simple definition allows a polymorphic approach for defining set predicates.
• So if a new predicate is needed only a new implementation of Predicate<T> needs to be implemented.
• These Predicate<T> implementations can introduce configurable properties, for a more flexible solution.
• Definition: An algorithmic set is defined by a predicate.

Performance considerations

• This approach is only reasonable if all tested elements are in memory, querying them from a database would be a suboptimal.
• If the amount of different