Repeated computations under a lambda

18 Jul 2017

      I'm seeing what looks like repeated computation under a lambda with `-O`
and `-O2`. The following definition:
...
exampleC :: Double -> Double -> Double
exampleC = \ t -> let s = sin t in \ x -> x + s
yields this Core:
...
-- RHS size: {terms: 13, types: 6, coercions: 0}
exampleC :: Double -> Double -> Double
exampleC =
  \ (t_afI6 :: Double) (eta_B1 :: Double) ->
    case eta_B1 of _ { D# x_aj5c ->
    case t_afI6 of _ { D# x1_aj5l ->
    D# (+## x_aj5c (sinDouble# x1_aj5l))
    }
    }
The `sinDouble#` here depends only on `t_afI6` (`t`) but still appears
under the binding of `eta_B1` (`x`).

I'm concerned because many of my uses of such functions involve
computations dependent only on `t` (time) but with millions of uses (space)
per `t`. (I'm working on a GHC Core plugin (compiling to categories), with
one use generating graphics GPU code.)

Does the optimization I expected somehow happen later in the compilation
pipeline?

Are there Core-manipulating functions in GHC that I can use to make it
happen earlier (via a `BuiltinRule`, i.e., Core-to-Core function)?

Thanks,
-- Conal

Repeated computations under a lambda

Conal Elliott