contravariants

Contravariants are a concept in mathematics and computer science, particularly in the context of category theory and type theory. They refer to the behavior of certain functions or mappings that reverse the direction of the arrows when composed with other functions. This is in contrast to covariants, which preserve the direction of the arrows.

In category theory, a category consists of objects and morphisms (arrows) between them. A contravariant functor is a functor that reverses the direction of the morphisms. That is, if F is a contravariant functor and f is a morphism from object A to object B, then F(f) is a morphism from F(B) to F(A).

In type theory, contravariance refers to the relationship between types in which a function that takes a more general type as an argument can be used where a function that takes a more specific type is expected. This is often seen in the context of subtyping and polymorphism.

Contravariants are important in various areas of mathematics and computer science, including functional programming, where they are used to define concepts like contravariant functors and contravariant types. They provide a powerful tool for reasoning about the structure and behavior of mathematical and computational systems.