Part 3

More on String Notation

In some environments we are unable to use greek letters to denote mathematical terms.  In this case can spell them out. For example, we use sigma instead of using the Σ symbol, or write empty_string instead of using the  specially designated symbol Λ (lambda).

Strings are usually denoted by using the beginning letters of the Greek alphabet: α (alpha), β (beta), γ (gamma), δ (delta), etc. Variables are usually named using the end of the Latin alphabet: x, y, z, etc. To indicate the variable type we use colon. To indicate the value of the string we use angular brackets.

For example, if we have a string α that contains variable x of some type T, then we can write:

      x: T   and   α = <x>

Informally, we use the angular brackets when we generally talk about a string that consists of more than one element, but when it comes to specifying in RESOLVE— the correct way would be just to use one element inside the brackets.