ocaml/stdlib/lazy.mli

111 lines
4.5 KiB
OCaml

(**************************************************************************)
(* *)
(* OCaml *)
(* *)
(* Damien Doligez, projet Para, INRIA Rocquencourt *)
(* *)
(* Copyright 1997 Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et *)
(* en Automatique. *)
(* *)
(* All rights reserved. This file is distributed under the terms of *)
(* the GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1, with the *)
(* special exception on linking described in the file LICENSE. *)
(* *)
(**************************************************************************)
(** Deferred computations. *)
type 'a t = 'a CamlinternalLazy.t
(** A value of type ['a Lazy.t] is a deferred computation, called
a suspension, that has a result of type ['a]. The special
expression syntax [lazy (expr)] makes a suspension of the
computation of [expr], without computing [expr] itself yet.
"Forcing" the suspension will then compute [expr] and return its
result. Matching a suspension with the special pattern syntax
[lazy(pattern)] also computes the underlying expression and
tries to bind it to [pattern]:
{[
let lazy_option_map f x =
match x with
| lazy (Some x) -> Some (Lazy.force f x)
| _ -> None
]}
Note: If lazy patterns appear in multiple cases in a pattern-matching,
lazy expressions may be forced even outside of the case ultimately selected
by the pattern matching. In the example above, the suspension [x] is always
computed.
Note: [lazy_t] is the built-in type constructor used by the compiler
for the [lazy] keyword. You should not use it directly. Always use
[Lazy.t] instead.
Note: [Lazy.force] is not thread-safe. If you use this module in
a multi-threaded program, you will need to add some locks.
Note: if the program is compiled with the [-rectypes] option,
ill-founded recursive definitions of the form [let rec x = lazy x]
or [let rec x = lazy(lazy(...(lazy x)))] are accepted by the type-checker
and lead, when forced, to ill-formed values that trigger infinite
loops in the garbage collector and other parts of the run-time system.
Without the [-rectypes] option, such ill-founded recursive definitions
are rejected by the type-checker.
*)
exception Undefined
(* val force : 'a t -> 'a *)
external force : 'a t -> 'a = "%lazy_force"
(** [force x] forces the suspension [x] and returns its result.
If [x] has already been forced, [Lazy.force x] returns the
same value again without recomputing it. If it raised an exception,
the same exception is raised again.
Raise {!Undefined} if the forcing of [x] tries to force [x] itself
recursively.
*)
val force_val : 'a t -> 'a
(** [force_val x] forces the suspension [x] and returns its
result. If [x] has already been forced, [force_val x]
returns the same value again without recomputing it.
Raise {!Undefined} if the forcing of [x] tries to force [x] itself
recursively.
If the computation of [x] raises an exception, it is unspecified
whether [force_val x] raises the same exception or {!Undefined}.
*)
val from_fun : (unit -> 'a) -> 'a t
(** [from_fun f] is the same as [lazy (f ())] but slightly more efficient.
[from_fun] should only be used if the function [f] is already defined.
In particular it is always less efficient to write
[from_fun (fun () -> expr)] than [lazy expr].
@since 4.00.0 *)
val from_val : 'a -> 'a t
(** [from_val v] returns an already-forced suspension of [v].
This is for special purposes only and should not be confused with
[lazy (v)].
@since 4.00.0 *)
val is_val : 'a t -> bool
(** [is_val x] returns [true] if [x] has already been forced and
did not raise an exception.
@since 4.00.0 *)
val lazy_from_fun : (unit -> 'a) -> 'a t
[@@ocaml.deprecated "Use Lazy.from_fun instead."]
(** @deprecated synonym for [from_fun]. *)
val lazy_from_val : 'a -> 'a t
[@@ocaml.deprecated "Use Lazy.from_val instead."]
(** @deprecated synonym for [from_val]. *)
val lazy_is_val : 'a t -> bool
[@@ocaml.deprecated "Use Lazy.is_val instead."]
(** @deprecated synonym for [is_val]. *)