When if is just a function
5 days ago
- #programming
- #Rye
- #control-structures
- In Python, control structures like 'if' and 'for' are special syntax and cannot be modified or passed as arguments.
- Languages like REBOL, Red, and Rye treat control structures as regular functions, allowing for consistency, flexibility, and extensibility.
- Consistency: Control structures follow the same patterns as other functions, eliminating special syntax exceptions.
- Flexibility: Functions can be composed, passed around, and combined, extending these capabilities to control structures.
- Extensibility: Users can create their own control structures since they are just functions.
- Rye demonstrates this with examples like 'if' being a function that takes a condition and a block of code.
- Code blocks in Rye are values and do not execute until explicitly told to, allowing control flow to be handled by functions.
- Single pattern: All constructs in Rye follow the same shape—function name followed by arguments, some of which are code blocks.
- Consistency & Flexibility: Functions like 'loop' and 'for' can be composed and piped into, unlike Python's syntax-based control structures.
- Higher-Order Control Flow: Functions can be passed as arguments, enabling custom control structures.
- Extensibility: Users can create their own control structures like 'unless' and 'until'.
- Performance and Tooling: While Rye's approach may have runtime overhead, it simplifies optimization and tooling by focusing on function calls.
- Trade-offs: Python's special syntax allows for compile-time optimizations and specialized IDE support, but Rye's uniformity offers simplicity in optimization and tooling.