English

Substitution Without Copy and Paste

Logic in Computer Science 2025-10-15 v1

Abstract

Defining substitution for a language with binders like the simply typed λ\lambda-calculus requires repetition, defining substitution and renaming separately. To verify the categorical properties of this calculus, we must repeat the same argument many times. We present a lightweight method that avoids repetition and that gives rise to a simply typed category with families (CwF) isomorphic to the initial simply typed CwF. Our paper is a literate Agda script.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2510.12304,
  title  = {Substitution Without Copy and Paste},
  author = {Thorsten Altenkirch and Nathaniel Burke and Philip Wadler},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.12304},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

In Proceedings LFMTP 2025, arXiv:2510.11199

R2 v1 2026-07-01T06:35:59.678Z