Lambda: The Ultimate GOTO (1977)

12 hours ago

The paper debunks the myth that procedure calls are inherently expensive compared to GOTO statements, attributing this misconception to poorly designed language implementations.
It argues that procedure calls can be as efficient as GOTO statements when properly implemented, especially through techniques like tail-recursion optimization.
The author demonstrates that any flowchart can be written as a structured program using only sequencing, conditionals, and procedure calls, without introducing extra variables.
The paper highlights the expressive power of procedure calls, showing they can represent complex control structures naturally and elegantly.
It critiques the arbitrary distinctions between built-in operators and user functions in many languages, advocating for more uniform and efficient language designs.
The author emphasizes the importance of separating abstract programming concepts from concrete language constructs to improve both implementation and programming style.
The paper concludes that procedure calls should be respected for their power and versatility, not avoided due to perceived inefficiency.

Hasty Briefsbeta