Lazy vs. Strict
Philip Wadler, University of Glasgow
To a first approximation, lazy languages are modelled by Church's
call-by-name lambda calculus, while strict languages are modelled by
Plotkin's call-by-value lambda calculus. The former is a good
denotional model, while the latter is not; and the latter is a good
operational model, while the former is not.
To improve the situation
one must devise less simple but more accurate models.
The
construction of such models is remarkably recent, and they turn out to
be surprisingly similar.
.
Last updated by sblp96@dcc.ufmg.br
at Thu May 16 1996