Re: [Caml-list] Re: Parameter evaluation order

[Damien Doligez <damien.doligez@inria.fr>]

On Aug 24, 2005, at 03:24, Hao-yang Wang wrote:


>> Suppose you want to evaluate a curried function call in left-to-right
>> order:
>> f e1 e2 e3 e4
>>
>> You must evaluate f first, then e1.  Then you must apply f to e1,  
>> giving
>> a new function g1.  Then you must evalue e2, then apply f1 to e2,  
>> giving
>> f2, etc.
>>
>>
>
> It seems to me that as long as evaluate f the last, we are ok.
>

Yes.


> We can specify the evaluation order of the _parameters_ left-to-right
> (i.e., e1 then e2, e3, e4, and finally f), without running into the
> efficiency problem.
>

No, that is a contradiction.  f is an arbitrary expression of the  
language,
for example (g e0), so the code above might well be in fact:

   g e0 e1 e2 e3 e4

Now, if you evaluate f last, you are obviously not evaluating the  
arguments
in left-to-right order, since you evaluate e0 after the others.  In  
order to
stay consistent, you have to evaluate them in right-to-left order.

In fact, when all your functions are curried there are only two possible
choices: evaluate the function first, or the argument first.  There is
no such thing as a multi-argument function application.  Evaluating f
last forces you to evaluate the arguments in right-to-left order in
expressions like the above.

-- Damien