X-Git-Url: http://lambda.jimpryor.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=lambda.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=exercises%2F_assignment6.mdwn;h=106572580ab0968309d8f911d52428832c1e1b0a;hp=aabcbe07b2d5bd25a082e06319b9a511d2909380;hb=9bc8980aed3bfb54d57e64941b25a57290f699a8;hpb=6eb94b1b0c2bd030c11a3da469e769faa5ada8d9 diff --git a/exercises/_assignment6.mdwn b/exercises/_assignment6.mdwn index aabcbe07..10657258 100644 --- a/exercises/_assignment6.mdwn +++ b/exercises/_assignment6.mdwn @@ -24,5 +24,61 @@ recursive reduction function.) -## Evaluation in the untyped lambda calculus +## Evaluation in the untyped lambda calculus: substitution + +Once you grok reduction and evaluation order in Combinatory Logic, +we're going to begin to construct an evaluator for a simple language +that includes lambda abstraction. We're going to work through the +issues twice: once with a function that does substitution in the +obvious way. You'll see it's somewhat complicated. The complications +come from the need to worry about variable capture. (Seeing these +complications should give you an inkling of why we presented the +evaluation order discussion using Combinatory Logic, since we don't +need to worry about variables in CL.) + +We're not going to ask you to write the entire program yourself. +Instead, we're going to give you [[the complete program, minus a few +little bits of glue|code/reduction_with_substitution.ml]]. What you need to do is +understand how it all fits together. When you do, you'll understand +how to add the last little bits to make functioning program. + +1. In the previous homework, you built a function that took an +identifier and a lambda term and returned a boolean representing +whether that identifier occured free inside of the term. Your first +task is to complete the `free_in` function, which has been crippled in +the code base (look for lines that say `COMPLETE THIS LINE`). Once +you have your function working, you should be able to run queries such +as this: + + # free_in "x" (App (Abstract ("x", Var "x"), Var "x"));; + - : bool = true + +2. Once you get the `free_in` function working, you'll need to +complete the `substitute` function. You'll see a new wrinkle on +OCaml's pattern-matching construction: `| PATTERN when x = 2 -> +RESULT`. This means that a match with PATTERN is only triggered if +the boolean condition in the `when` clause evaluates to true. +Sample target: + + # substitute (App (Abstract ("x", ((App (Abstract ("x", Var "x"), Var "y")))), Constant (Num 3))) "y" (Constant (Num 4));; + - : lambdaTerm = App (Abstract ("x", App (Abstract ("x", Var "x"), Constant (Num 4))), Constant (Num 3)) + +3. Once you have completed the previous two problems, you'll have a +complete evaluation program. Here's a simple sanity check for when you +get it working: + + # reduce (App (Abstract ("x", Var "x"), Constant (Num 3)));; + - : lambdaTerm = Constant (Num 3) + +What kind of evaluation strategy does this evaluator use? In +particular, what are the answers to the three questions about +evaluation strategy as given in the discussion of [[evaluation +strategies|topics/week3_evaluation_order]] as Q1, Q2, and Q3? + +## Evaluation in the untyped calculus: environments + +Ok, the previous strategy sucked: tracking free and bound variables, +computing fresh variables, it's all super complicated. +Here's a better strategy. +