Lambda calculus is very small and still "Turing complete" language. However, because of its simplicity and small size, it is very hard to write real programs - even harder than in assembly language. Most of the materials demonstrating programming in lambda calculus> use meta-variables. For instance, TRUE is defined as and after that, TRUE is used instead of given expression. If such meta-variables are used, lambda-expressions are much shorter and more readable, however, there is no essential difference, since before reduction, all meta-variables are "expanded" into real lambda-expressions. I already implemented support for reduction of lambda expressions in my Newlisp library. The code that deals with meta-variables is rather simple. It is just recursive substitution of meta-variable's value for meta-variable itself. You can see how it works in my previous post, now updated. |
Lambda Calculus Meta-variables Supported in my Newlisp Library.
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