Supercombinator: Difference between revisions

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m Added a note sketching the use of supercombinators. Also added link to online version of SPJ text.
grammar: it may be (either X or Y) -- not "it may either (be X or Y)"
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A '''supercombinator''' is a [[mathematical expression]] which is [[Free variables and bound variables|fully bound]] and [[self-contained]]. It may either be either a [[constant (mathematics)|constant]] or a [[combinator]] where all the subexpressions are supercombinators. Supercombinators are used in the implementation of functional languages.
 
In mathematical terms, a [[lambda expression]] ''S'' is a supercombinator of [[arity]] ''n'' if it has no free variables and is of the form λx<sub>1</sub>.λx<sub>2</sub>...λx<sub>n</sub>.''E'' (with ''n''&nbsp;≥&nbsp;0, so that lambdas are not required) such that ''E'' itself is not a [[lambda abstraction]] and any lambda abstraction in ''E'' is again a supercombinator.