One of the first detailed expositions of partial algebras, this book develops a special theory of partial algebras as a powerful foundation of a model theoretic, initial semantics of algebraic specification languages. Professor Reichel explores the possibility of increasing the use of partial algebras, particularly in computer science. He presents examples of algebraic specifications of increasing complexity and proves that structural induction can yield a complete calculus of abstract programs on parameterized abstract data types. Finally, he extends the model-theoretic initial semantics of abstract data types with partial operations to behavioral semantics.