Programming Research Group Technical Monograph PRG-72

Joseph A. Goguen

March 1989, 17 pages, ISBN 0-902928-54-6

This informal paper tries to motivate the use of category theory in computing science by giving heuristic guidelines for applying five basic categorical concepts: category, functor, natural transformation, adjoint, and colimit. Several examples and some general discussion are given for each concept, and a number of references are cited, although no attempt has been made for completeness. Some additional categorical concepts and suggestions for further research are also mentioned. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of some implications for foundations.