Concept:
Metaprogram
Headline
A program that manipulates programs
Illustration
Consider the following simplify for arithmetic expressions, written in Language:Haskell:
-- Simple arithmetic expressions
data Expr = Const Int | Add Expr Expr
deriving (Eq, Show)
-- Simplification for unit law of addition
simplify :: Expr -> Expr
simplify t@(Const c) = t
simplify (Add (Const 0) x) = simplify x
simplify (Add x (Const 0)) = simplify x
simplify t@(Add x y) =
if t==t'
then t
else simplify t'
where
t' = Add (simplify x) (simplify y)
For instance, the simplifier works as follows:
> simplify (Add (Const 20) (Const 22))
Add (Const 20) (Const 22)
> simplify (Add (Const 0) (Const 42))
Const 42
The simplifier is a metaprogram, as it is a program that manipulates another program. The metalanguage used here is Language:Haskell. The object language used here is Expr, the language of expression.
See the concept of reflection for a more specific form of metaprogramming for further illustrations.
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