What does “abstract over” mean?

Question

Often in the Scala literature, I encounter the phrase \"abstract over\", but I don\'t understand the intent. For example, Martin Odersky writes

You can p

Answer 1

Here is my narrow show and tell interpretation. It's self-explanatory and runs in the REPL.

class Parameterized[T] { // type as a parameter
  def call(func: (Int) => Int) = func(1)  // function as a parameter
  def use(l: Long) { println(l) } // value as a parameter
}

val p = new Parameterized[String] // pass type String as a parameter
p.call((i:Int) => i + 1) // pass function increment as a parameter
p.use(1L) // pass value 1L as a parameter


abstract class Abstracted { 
  type T // abstract over a type
  def call(i: Int): Int // abstract over a function
  val l: Long // abstract over value
  def use() { println(l) }
}

class Concrete extends Abstracted { 
  type T = String // specialize type as String
  def call(i:Int): Int = i + 1 // specialize function as increment function
  val l = 1L // specialize value as 1L
}

val a: Abstracted = new Concrete
a.call(1)
a.use()