At 08:48 23/07/99 -0700, Andrew Kennedy wrote:
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Markus Mottl [mailto:mottl@miss.wu-wien.ac.at]
>> Subject: optimization and purity
>> 
>> I would like to know whether anyone has already thought about means of
>> indicating or inferring purity of functions.
>> 

>You are indeed correct that knowing the purity of functions would permit a
>number of optimisations such as the loop-hoisting example you present. 

	Actually, I'm quite interested in the same thing
from a different angle: rather than being concerned with
_compiler_ code optimisation, I'm concerned with human ability
to reason about code: ocaml loses the simplicity of reasoning about
derived from referential transparency available in 'pure' functional
languages. (But of course the two things are strongly related)

-------------------------------------------------------
John Skaller    email: skaller@maxtal.com.au
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