Lazy SETL Debugging with Persistent Data Structures

To my parents and v Acknowledgments This is a good opportunity for me to thank the people who have contributed to the thesis. It is difficult to imagine that I could complete my research work without the contributions of these people. I am greatly indebted to my research advisor, Jack Schwartz. He has been my mentor and motivator since I started to work with him three years ago. His interest, insight, inspiration, enthusiasm and encouragement have long been part of the driving force of my research work. He has made detailed comments of this thesis, from wording to its overall structure. I would like to thank David Bacon. He was very kind in explaining to me the details of his SETL quadruples upon which my system is built, and answered many of my questions about and beyond the language. Most importantly, due to his passion to SETL, I have come to share his belief that SETL is a most wonderful programming language. I would like to thank many people who have commented or criticized my research and thesis. Ed Schonberg, who has encouraged and supported me during my stay at NYU, carefully examined my work and provided invaluable input. Bob Paige, another reader, suggested many improvements in a short period. Ken Perlin discussed with me many interface issues and served on my committees in various occasions. I would also like to Xiaonan Tan for their comments about my work. Finally, I would like to thank the support from my family over the difficult period of the last five years. This thesis is dedicated to them.