1 definition found From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]: call-by-name (CBN) (Normal order reduction, leftmost, outermost reduction). An argument passing convention (first provided by {ALGOL 60}?) where argument expressions are passed unevaluated. This is usually implemented by passing a pointer to some code which will return the value of the argument and an environment giving the values of its {free variable}s. This {evaluation strategy} is guaranteed to reach a {normal form} if one exists. When used to implement {functional programming} languages, call-by-name is usually combined with {graph reduction} to avoid repeated evaluation of the same expression. This is then known as {call-by-need}. The opposite of call-by-name is {call-by-value} where arguments are evaluated before they are passed to a function. This is more efficient but is less likely to terminate in the presence of infinite data structures and {recursive} functions. Arguments to {macro}s are usually passed using call-by-name. (1994-11-29)
Powered by Blog Dictionary [BlogDict]
Kindly supported by
Vaffle Invitation Code
Get a Freelance Job - Outsource Your Projects | Threadless Coupon
All rights
reserved. (2008-2024)