Donald Bruce Stewart wrote:
harald.rotter:
Hi,
I read about the usage of "fix" to define recursive functions. Although I think that I understood how to use "fix", I still wonder what the advantages of "fix" are (as compared to the "conventional" approach to define recursive functions).
Any hints are appreciated.
So actually, I suppose it is useful for small, anonymous recursive definitions.
It also exposes the recursive computation structure for direct manipulation, enabling one to perform certain program transformations/refactorings. Search for "fixpoint fusion" and "fixed point promotion". While one might say: that's the business of a compiler, actually existing ones are not very sophisticated in that regard, so one might want to do such transformations "by hand"... Ciao, Janis. -- Dr. Janis Voigtlaender http://wwwtcs.inf.tu-dresden.de/~voigt/ mailto:voigt@tcs.inf.tu-dresden.de