Talk:Closure (computer programming)/to do
- Introduction
- Rewrite lead paragraph (mostly done)
- In such languages a reference to a function is a reference to a closure...
- Closure = Function + Environment
- What happens when creating a closure? (Closure captures the current lexical environment)
- What happens when entering a closure? (Function is executed in the lexical environment captured by the closure)
- Picture?
- Mention all relevant terminology: open, closed, free, bound, captured, closed over
- Mention closures are an implementation technique for supporting first-class functions
- Theory: closures in operational semantics
- Add an introductory section
- Targeted primarily at imperative programmers who have little experience with non-local variables
- Closures are an implementation technique
- A form of activation record on the heap
- Compare with a stack-allocated version of activation records for nested functions
- Rewrite lead paragraph (mostly done)
- History
- Early languages:
- POP-2, POP-11; POP-11: a practical language for artificial intelligence
- PAL; 1968, 1970; http://www.softwarepreservation.org/projects/lang/PAL
- Scheme; 1975
- Early languages:
- Semantics
- Closure (computer programming)#Differences in semantics: Scheme (variables in scope) vs. Smalltalk (variables + return + self) vs, Java 7/8/... (variables + return + this + exceptions + ...)
- Capturing loop variables
- Capture by reference vs. capture by copy, extending the lifetime and garbage collection (compare C++)
- Implementation
- Luca Cardelli, Compiling a Functional Language.
- Simon Peyton Jones, Implementation of Functional Programming Languages.
- Z. Shao and A. W. Appel. Space-efficient closure representations.
- Upvalues: Roberto Ierusalimschy et al., "The Implementation of Lua 5.0"
- Funarg problems: closures are intended to solve the more difficult upwards funarg problem, but sometimes also used to solve the downwards.
- Applications: thunk (delayed computation), memoization, object system, hidden state/static variables
- Closure (computer programming)#Closures and state representation: This can be used in lazy pure languages as well, e.g. storing a memoization table in the closure which is lazyily evaluated when needed but not discarded.
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