Re: [q-lang-users] Speeding up Q

[Albert G. <Dr....@t-...>]

Brian Beckman wrote:
> Oh, I think I see even more clearly, now. The data constructors "Just" and
> "Nothing" are not quite ordinary functions ... they're a special kind of
> function that is permitted -- by special rules -- to participate in pattern
> matching.  But in TRs, any function is permitted in the pattern position
> because there's just one kind of function.  Right?

Right, exactly. Constructors *only* get used in the patterns, and
functions *only* get used in the head position in front of the patterns.
That is what's called the constructor discipline. Of course, you *can*
program like this with TRSes, too (I think that the term "constructor
discipline" actually comes from TRS theory), but it's not required.
TRSes are therefore conceptually much simpler.

Albert

-- 
Dr. Albert Gr"af
Dept. of Music-Informatics, University of Mainz, Germany
Email:  Dr....@t-..., ag...@mu...
WWW:    http://www.musikinformatik.uni-mainz.de/ag