Files in directory /sxeval in any check-in
- builtin.go
- builtin_test.go
- engine.go
- env.go
- env_bench_test.go
- env_test.go
- expr.go
- frame.go
- parse.go
- pframe.go
- README.md
- rframe.go
- sxeval.go
- sxeval_bench_test.go
- sxeval_test.go
- syntax.go
sxeval - an evaluator for symbolic expressions
Symbolic expressions may be interpreted, i.e. evaluated.
Most sx.Objects evaluate to themselves.
sx.Symbols are resolved in an sxeval.Environment to a bound value. It is an
error, if a symbol's value is not stored in the environment.
A non-empty list is treated differently: its first object must evaluate to a "callable" object, i.e. a function. The other objects of the list are evaluated recursively and are treated as arguments for that function.
The first object of a list may alternatively evaluate to a "syntax" object, also a function. The function is called with the other objects of the list as its arguments. The result of the function call, typically a list, is then evaluated too. This allows some kind of meta-evaluation.
"Callable" and "syntax" objects are defined in the package sxbuiltins.
Evaluation works in three steps:
- The object is parsed according to the evaluation rules, resulting in an
"expression" object (
sxeval.Expr). - Expression objects may be "reworked", into possibly simpler expression objects. For example, if a symbols's value cannot be changed, the symbol lookup can be replaced with its value.
- The expression is computed with respect to a given environment, resulting in an object.
This separation allowed to pre-compute the structure of an object, resulting in possibly faster execution time or less memory to store. Parsing an reworking can be done in advance, while computing can be done much later.
To make the steps of evaluation easier to handle, sxeval defines an "engine"
type (sxeval.Engine) that provides appropriate functions. In addition, it
provides function to create an initial environment to evaluate symbols.
sxeval.Environments are effectively just a mapping of sx.Symbols to an
sx.Object. A sx.Symbol is bound to a sx.Object.
The are two types of bindings: a constant binding does not allow to update
the sx.Object that is bound to the sx.Symbol. A variable binding allows
this update.
sxeval.Environments form a hierarchy: all but one have a parent
environment. This allows to overwrite constant bindings somehow: create a
child parent and bind the sx.Symbol to another sx.Object, and evaluate a
sx.Object in the new child environment.
Resolving a sx.Symbol works as follows: when a sx.Symbol is looked up in a
given environment, and it is not bound in that environment, the sx.Symbol is
resolved in the parent environment.
Of course, there is an environment that does not have a parent environment: the
root environment. If a sx.Symbol is not bound in the root environment, the
lookup operation fails.