formalism

plural formalisms

1. countableuncountableStrict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice etc.
2. countableuncountablecomputingOne of several alternative computational paradigms for a given theory.
3. countableuncountableliteratureAn approach to interpretation and/or evaluation focused on the (usually linguistic) structure of a literary work rather than on the contexts of its origin or reception.
4. countableuncountableentertainmentThe tendency to elevate formal above expressive value in music, as in serialism.
5. countableuncountablemathematicsA particular mathematical or scientific theory or description of a given state or effect.

   Heisenberg seems to have been motivated by his intense annoyance that Schrödinger's more intuitive version of quantum theory was more widely accepted than his own, even though both formalisms led to the same results.

   2011, Brian Cox, Jeff Forshaw, The Quantum Universe, Allen Lane, published 2011, page 54

6. countableuncountablecomputingA formal expression of a grammar; a formal grammar; a set of rules of syntax that, without reference to semantics, determine whether a sequence of symbols is a well-formed sentence in a given formal language.

   1992, tuart M. Shieber, Constraint-based Grammar Formalisms, The MIT Press, page 51, It is this abstraction that justifies considering these methods as characterizing constraint-based formalisms in general, rather than an individual formalism.

   1 more example

   Dirac approaches quantum mechanics by means of a so-called symbolic method, the bracket formalism. Although this formalism has a mathematical flavour, in fact, it is based upon bold claims which lack mathematical foundation.

   1986, S. J. L. van Eijndhoven, J. de Graaf, A Mathematical Introduction to Dirac's Formalism, Elsevier (North-Holland), page ix

7. countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe ontological view of mathematics as a mere collection of string manipulation rules.