On Sat, 22 Dec 2007 16:48:51 +0200, Peter Verswyvelen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
Cristian Baboi wrote
Lazy constant in C:
int C1 (){ return 7; }
Not really, this is not lazy, since it always recomputes the value "7".
To have "lazy" values in C you would have to do something like:
struct ValueInt
{
int IsComputed;
union
{
int Value;
struct
{
int (*ComputeValue)(void *args);
void* Args;
};
};
};
int GetLazyInt (ValueInt* v)
{
if( !v->IsComputed )
{
v->Value = v->ComputeValue(v->Args);
v->IsComputed = true;
}
return v->Value;
}
But this of course, is totally useless in C and very bulky. It's also
impossible to know when to call freemem on the Args (hence garbage
collection in FP), when *not* to use lazy values but strict values
instead (hence strictness analysis in FP), etc...
I know FP have automatic garbage collection.
I know FP compilers use strictness analysis.
In C++ one can isolate memory management in constructors and destructors.
There are C compilers that are also able to do some optimizations.
I must say I had the same opinion as you had for many many years. I
always thought "functions as first class values" where just function
pointers, so what is it these Haskell/FP guys are so excited about? But
if you dig deeper, you'll see the magic... Notice you will have to give
yourself some time; it is very hard to get out of the imperative blob.
E.g. I'm still being sucked into the imperative blob after my first year
of Haskell hacking :)
PS: As I'm relatively new to Haskell, don't take the above C code too
seriously; it certainly will not reflect the way a real Haskell system
works.
I am new to Haskell, but not new to declarative programming. I programmed
in Prolog for several years, and I tryed LISP, but I don't liked the LISP
syntax.
I don't take my C example seriously either.
The thing is I think that for a language to have "first-class" functions,
it must be "homoiconic" if I understand the terms correctly.
Have you tryed to write a Haskell program that manipulate Haskell programs
?
Please don't tell me that Haskell compiler is written in Haskell, because
there are C compilers written in C.
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