[Axiom-developer] Re: 1: %

[Gabriel Dos Reis]

Ralf Hemmecke <address@hidden> writes:

| > | The problem is the "1: %" as a constant (not a nullary function).
| > The distinction is largely syntactic, not fundamental.
| 
| I was once told that in Aldor the difference between
|    a: %
| and
|    b: () -> %
| is that
| b() will run a program which might side-effect other things or even
| return something different each time.

yes, if the body of b() is defined so.  But not all b() are affected
by that artifact.  But it is not a fundamental or intrinsic
distinction that would have to cary to other languages.

-- Gaby