singleprimitive

Singleprimitive is a term used in discussions of type systems and data modeling to describe an atomic data unit that cannot be further subdivided within a given language or system. It serves to distinguish indivisible values from composite structures such as records, arrays, or objects.

Definition and scope: A singleprimitive denotes primitive scalar types (such as booleans, integers, floating-point numbers, and characters) and sometimes special singleton types like unit or null, depending on the language. The defining criterion is that values of a singleprimitive have no internal structure accessible to the program; operations treat the value as a whole.

Properties: Typical properties include atomicity, fixed or predictable representation, and often immutability in semantics. Equality is usually by value, and memory layout is commonly fixed to support efficient interchange and comparison. The exact capabilities of a singleprimitive can vary by language, especially regarding allowed operations and type constraints.

Role and applications: The concept is useful in static analysis, compiler backends, and data interchange formats to reason about data dependencies, memory usage, and optimization opportunities. Singleprimitives support straightforward serialization and interlanguage bindings, and they simplify reasoning about referential transparency in functional or immutable contexts.

Relationship to related concepts: Singleprimitive is related to primitive types and scalar types, and it sits alongside the broader notion of atomic types in concurrent or formal languages. It is contrasted with composite types such as tuples, records, lists, maps, and objects, which expose internal structure.

Example: In a hypothetical language, a 32-bit signed integer may be treated as a singleprimitive, while an array of integers is composite. Some languages include a unit type as a singleprimitive, representing a value with no information.