Why Software is Abstract, by PolR

 
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Old 10-07-2010
Why Software is Abstract, by PolR

Why Software Is Abstract
by PolR




Following the ruling of the Supreme Court in Bilski, the USPTO asked, in substance, how to tell an abstract idea from an application of the idea. In this article I propose an answer to the question of what makes software abstract. It is a follow up to the previous article, Physical Aspects of Mathematics.

The logic is to look at why a mathematical calculation is abstract and then see if the same logic applies to software. It happens that it does. It is possible to show that software is abstract with references to the underlying mathematical aspects. This is not, however, the topic for this article. The argument is presented without any assumption as to whether or not software is mathematics. I work from the observation that a mathematical calculation solving a mathematical problem is abstract. Then I look at what makes it abstract. Then I observe that the exact same logic is applicable to all software whether or not the law sees it as an algorithm as defined by Benson. This is not surprising. Software is mathematics and this makes it abstract, but I don't use or rely on this fact in making the arguments in this article.



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SQL::Abstract::Test(3)					User Contributed Perl Documentation				    SQL::Abstract::Test(3)

NAME
SQL::Abstract::Test - Helper function for testing SQL::Abstract SYNOPSIS
use SQL::Abstract; use Test::More; use SQL::Abstract::Test import => [qw/ is_same_sql_bind is_same_sql is_same_bind eq_sql_bind eq_sql eq_bind /]; my ($sql, @bind) = SQL::Abstract->new->select(%args); is_same_sql_bind($given_sql, @given_bind, $expected_sql, @expected_bind, $test_msg); is_same_sql($given_sql, $expected_sql, $test_msg); is_same_bind(@given_bind, @expected_bind, $test_msg); my $is_same = eq_sql_bind($given_sql, @given_bind, $expected_sql, @expected_bind); my $sql_same = eq_sql($given_sql, $expected_sql); my $bind_same = eq_bind(@given_bind, @expected_bind); DESCRIPTION
This module is only intended for authors of tests on SQL::Abstract and related modules; it exports functions for comparing two SQL statements and their bound values. The SQL comparison is performed on abstract syntax, ignoring differences in spaces or in levels of parentheses. Therefore the tests will pass as long as the semantics is preserved, even if the surface syntax has changed. Disclaimer : the semantic equivalence handling is pretty limited. A lot of effort goes into distinguishing significant from non- significant parenthesis, including AND/OR operator associativity. Currently this module does not support commutativity and more intelligent transformations like Morgan laws, etc. For a good overview of what this test framework is capable of refer to "t/10test.t" FUNCTIONS
is_same_sql_bind is_same_sql_bind($given_sql, @given_bind, $expected_sql, @expected_bind, $test_msg); Compares given and expected pairs of "($sql, @bind)", and calls "ok" in Test::Builder on the result, with $test_msg as message. If the test fails, a detailed diagnostic is printed. For clients which use Test::More, this is the one of the three functions ("is_same_sql_bind", "is_same_sql", "is_same_bind") that needs to be imported. is_same_sql is_same_sql($given_sql, $expected_sql, $test_msg); Compares given and expected SQL statements, and calls "ok" in Test::Builder on the result, with $test_msg as message. If the test fails, a detailed diagnostic is printed. For clients which use Test::More, this is the one of the three functions ("is_same_sql_bind", "is_same_sql", "is_same_bind") that needs to be imported. is_same_bind is_same_bind(@given_bind, @expected_bind, $test_msg); Compares given and expected bind values, and calls "ok" in Test::Builder on the result, with $test_msg as message. If the test fails, a detailed diagnostic is printed. For clients which use Test::More, this is the one of the three functions ("is_same_sql_bind", "is_same_sql", "is_same_bind") that needs to be imported. eq_sql_bind my $is_same = eq_sql_bind($given_sql, @given_bind, $expected_sql, @expected_bind); Compares given and expected pairs of "($sql, @bind)". Similar to "is_same_sql_bind", but it just returns a boolean value and does not print diagnostics or talk to Test::Builder. eq_sql my $is_same = eq_sql($given_sql, $expected_sql); Compares the abstract syntax of two SQL statements. Similar to "is_same_sql", but it just returns a boolean value and does not print diagnostics or talk to Test::Builder. If the result is false, the global variable "$sql_differ" will contain the SQL portion where a difference was encountered; this is useful for printing diagnostics. eq_bind my $is_same = eq_sql(@given_bind, @expected_bind); Compares two lists of bind values, taking into account the fact that some of the values may be arrayrefs (see "bindtype" in SQL::Abstract). Similar to "is_same_bind", but it just returns a boolean value and does not print diagnostics or talk to Test::Builder. GLOBAL VARIABLES
$case_sensitive If true, SQL comparisons will be case-sensitive. Default is false; $parenthesis_significant If true, SQL comparison will preserve and report difference in nested parenthesis. Useful while testing "IN (( x ))" vs "IN ( x )". Defaults to false; $sql_differ When "eq_sql" returns false, the global variable $sql_differ contains the SQL portion where a difference was encountered. SEE ALSO
SQL::Abstract, Test::More, Test::Builder. AUTHORS
Laurent Dami, <laurent.dami AT etat geneve ch> Norbert Buchmuller <norbi@nix.hu> Peter Rabbitson <ribasushi@cpan.org> COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright 2008 by Laurent Dami. This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. perl v5.16.2 2012-06-14 SQL::Abstract::Test(3)