[Bug] Control.iterate-until double-uses a variable, and thus is broken #1437
Description
The current definition of Control.iterate-until is as such:
(sig iterate-until (Fn [(Ref (Fn [b] b c) d), (Ref (Fn [b] Bool c) e), b] b))
(defn iterate-until [f pred start]
(let-do [result start]
(while (not (~pred result))
(set! result (~f result)))
result))
This definition hands the ownership of the result variable to the pred function, then reuses it for f, meaning that the variable result is undefined by the time an attempt to transform it is made.
The compiler gladly warns us about this, but only when used:
You’re using a given-away value `result` at line 20, column 26 in '<$HOME>/.carp/core/Control.carp'.
You’ll have to copy the value using `@`. at <Irrelevant file where I used it>
As per fixing this there are two options, to my understanding:
- Handing a reference to
pred. This avoids requiring theresultbe able to be copied, but at the expense of changing the function signature. I have made this alteration locally to core, and can confirm it works as expected.
(doc iterate-until "Like `iterate`, but f is applied repeatedly until the predicate `pred` is true.")
(sig iterate-until (Fn [(Ref (Fn [b] b c) d), (Ref (Fn [(Ref b f)] Bool c) e), b] b))
(defn iterate-until [f pred start]
(let-do [result start]
(while (not (~pred &result))
(set! result (~f result)))
result))
- Copying the
resultinternally. This avoids changing the function signature, at the expense of requiring theresultbe copyable, and doing so every iteration.
(doc iterate-until "Like `iterate`, but f is applied repeatedly until the predicate `pred` is true.")
(sig iterate-until (Fn [(Ref (Fn [b] b c) d), (Ref (Fn [b] Bool c) e), b] b))
(defn iterate-until [f pred start]
(let-do [result start]
(while (not (~pred @&result))
(set! result (~f result)))
result))
Given the goals of the language I'd strongly suggest The first option, but that's up to you people.