Chris Okasaki, Ph.D. is an associate professor of

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

. He authored ''Purely Functional Data Structures'' (1998), based on a

doctoral dissertation A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

of the same name. He obtained a Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon University in 1996 under advisers Peter Lee,

Robert Harper Robert or Bob Harper may refer to: * Robert Almer Harper (1862–1946), American botanist * Robert Goodloe Harper (1765–1825), US senator from Maryland * Robert Harper (fl. 1734–1761), founder of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia * Robert Harper (a ...

Daniel Sleator Daniel Dominic Kaplan Sleator (born 10 December 1953) is a Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, United States. In 1999, he won the ACM Paris Kanellakis Award (jointly with Robert Tarjan) for the splay tree d ...

, and

Robert Tarjan Robert Endre Tarjan (born April 30, 1948) is an American computer scientist and mathematician. He is the discoverer of several graph algorithms, including Tarjan's off-line lowest common ancestors algorithm, and co-inventor of both splay trees ...

. Prior to his current academic appointment, he taught at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

''Purely functional data structures''

Dr. Okasaki published his doctoral dissertation as a book in 1998. It approaches the topic of

data structures In computer science, a data structure is a data organization, management, and storage format that is usually chosen for efficient access to data. More precisely, a data structure is a collection of data values, the relationships among them, a ...

from a

functional programming In computer science, functional programming is a programming paradigm where programs are constructed by applying and composing functions. It is a declarative programming paradigm in which function definitions are trees of expressions that ...

perspective, describing techniques for designing immutable structures that incorporate persistence.

References

Living people Carnegie Mellon University alumni Columbia University faculty United States Military Academy faculty Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-edu-bio-stub