call-by-need
<reduction> A reduction strategy which delays evaluation of function
arguments until their values are needed. A value is needed if it is an argument
to a primitive function or it is the condition in a conditional. Call-by-need is
one aspect of lazy evaluation.
The term first appears in Chris Wadsworth's thesis "Semantics and Pragmatics of
the Lambda calculus" (Oxford, 1971, p. 183). It was used later, by J. Vuillemin
in his thesis (Stanford, 1973).
(1995-05-27)
Nearby terms:
California State University San Marcos « callback «
call-by-name « call-by-need »
call-by-reference » call-by-value »
call-by-value-result
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