Re: [stack] Why is point-free form so interesting?
John Carter <[email protected]>
| Newsgroups | gmane.comp.lang.concatenative |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
On Sat, 16 Jun 2007, Christopher Diggins wrote: > I have been struggling to formalize/rationalize my intuition that > point-free form is somehow better than a form with names from the > standpoint of tools (e.g. analyzers, compilers, translators, > optimizers, etc.). Probably because the pros and cons are symmetrical... ie. The Good thing about point free form is the mechanism for getting from parameters to using them in expressions is explicit. ie. You know exactly how the magic happens. The Bad thing about point free form is the mechanism for getting from parameters to using them in expressions is explicit. ie. You know exactly how the magic happens....but you're almost sure you don't care as any other mechanism should still give the same answer and it's presence is just noise not signal. As usual Christopher is asking a valuable question... ...perhaps we can rephrase it... Is there a representation of a program where the mechanism of moving parameters to values in expressions is... * Explicit (ie. Can be reasoned about / transparent on inlining) * Trivial (Adds almost nothing to the code / vanishes in this representation)? John Carter Phone : (64)(3) 358 6639 Tait Electronics Fax : (64)(3) 359 4632 PO Box 1645 Christchurch Email : [email protected] New Zealand