Vimal wrote:
From the wiki:
If you write it, you force Haskell to create all list nodes. ...
Alright.
Now, lets look at the definition again:
length [] = 0
length (x:xs) = 1 + length xs
We see that the value of *x* isnt needed at all. So, why does GHC
allocate so much memory creating all those *x*s? because, if we have:
length [1..] = 1 + length [2...] = 1 + 1 + length [3...]
This should go on, into an infinite loop. GHC doesnt need to create
all nodes! The wiki also claims that *x* isnt evaluated. So, why
allocate space for it when its not evaluated?
*x* isn't allocated.
What is allocated is the list cell, that is, the ":".
The ":" is conceptually a two-cell, with room for a pointer to the 'x'
and a pointer to the 'xs'.
The 'x' itself isn't evaluated, so that pointer remains as a pointer to
some code a.k.a. an unevaluated thunk.
Jules
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