Wondrous oddities: R's function-call semantics
Posted by Tom Moertel Fri, 20 Jan 2006 23:02:00 GMT
Every so often, I am going to write about wondrous oddities – obscure programming-language features that are so cool they deserve wider notice. Today, in the first installment, I want to show you the function-call semantics of R, a great system for statistical computing.
You might not expect a statistics system to have a first-class programming language at it’s heart, but if you think about it, it does make sense. The R language, actually a dialect of the S language, is described as “a well-developed, simple and effective programming language which includes conditionals, loops, user-defined recursive functions and input and output facilities.” All true. It gives me the feeling of an infix Lisp or Scheme whose syntax is slanted toward mathematics and vector operations. The language has an object layer, too, but that’s not why we are here.
No, we are here to look at R’s uncommonly interesting function-call semantics, in particular argument binding and evaluation. Let’s dig in.
Read more...Posted in programming languages, statistics, wondrous oddities
Tags languages, R, semantics
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