Created
October 1, 2012 09:15
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Attempt at understanding the Y combinator
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; http://www.dreamsongs.com/Files/WhyOfY.pdf | |
(define Y (lambda (f) | |
(let ((g (lambda (h) | |
(lambda (x) ((f (h h)) x))))) | |
(g g)))) | |
; I understand it up to here. | |
; But then we have this: | |
; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-point_combinator#Y_combinator | |
(define Y | |
(lambda (f) | |
((lambda (x) (f (lambda (v) ((x x) v)))) | |
(lambda (x) (f (lambda (v) ((x x) v))))))) | |
; I haven't yet convinced myself these two are the same thing. Given the | |
; explanation in The Why of Y, I'd expect it to look like this instead: | |
(define Y | |
(lambda (f) | |
((lambda (x) (lambda (v) ((f (x x)) v))) | |
(lambda (x) (lambda (v) ((f (x x)) v)))))) | |
; But maybe these are the same thing? It's hard to see how. | |
; EDIT: I've run a couple of rudimentary tests and they appear to both function | |
; correctly. So it turns out they probably mean the same thing, but I'm still not | |
; convinced. How can both be valid? |
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