partial function
Also found in: Wikipedia.
partial function
[′pär·shəl ′fəŋk·shən] (computer science)
A partial function from a set A to a set B is a correspondence between some subset of A and B which associates with each element of the subset of A a unique element of B.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
partial function
A function which is not defined for all arguments of its input
type. E.g.
f(x) = 1/x if x /= 0.
The opposite of a total function. In denotational semantics, a partial function
f : D -> C
may be represented as a total function
ft : D' -> lift(C)
where D' is a superset of D and
ft x = f x if x in D ft x = bottom otherwise
where lift(C) = C U bottom. Bottom (LaTeX \perp) denotes "undefined".
f(x) = 1/x if x /= 0.
The opposite of a total function. In denotational semantics, a partial function
f : D -> C
may be represented as a total function
ft : D' -> lift(C)
where D' is a superset of D and
ft x = f x if x in D ft x = bottom otherwise
where lift(C) = C U bottom. Bottom (LaTeX \perp) denotes "undefined".
This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)