Shopify / Shopify/shadowenv

Having `lambda` makes the language turing-complete (in spirit)

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Dominant language
Rust
Stars
458
Forks
22
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

I can implement the Y-Combinator:

(define y (lambda (f) ((lambda (x) (f x x)) (lambda (x) (f x x)))))

(y (lambda (x y) (x y)))
$ shadowenv exec env
restriction error: max call stack exceeded

Traceback:

  In main, function __shadowenv__foo.lisp
  In main, lambda
  In main, lambda
  In main, lambda
  In main, lambda
  In main, lambda
  In main, lambda
  In main, lambda
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  In main, lambda
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  In main, lambda
  In main, lambda
  In main, lambda
  In main, lambda
  In main, lambda
  In main, lambda
  In main, lambda
  In main, lambda
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  In main, lambda
  In main, lambda
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error while evaluating shadowlisp

Why does the language need lambda at all? Having a non-recursive let already allows for non-recursive variable declarations, and I don’t think much more is required to describe every sensible configuration one would want.
The error messages are rather non-descriptive, as one can see (no lines).

I’d go even further and argue that everything in “Functions and Macros” besides let should be removed.

Full lambda & application semantics makes implementation of the format non-trivial (goes from a data specification format to a full turing-complete language, which has to be tamed by having an arbitrary maximum stack).

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reading the “Functions and Macros” documentation and reproducing the provided Y-combinator command to inspect the current behavior. No source files or tests are named; completion would require a decided scope for lambda support and/or descriptive error messages, followed by verification of the resulting semantics and diagnostics.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
compilers
Issue type
Refactor
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
20/100

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