Editing Supercombinator

{{Short description|Bound and self-contained mathematical expression}}
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A '''supercombinator''' is a [[mathematical expression]] which is [[Free variables and bound variables|fully bound]] and self-contained. It may be either a [[constant (mathematics)|constant]] or a [[combinator]] where all the subexpressions are supercombinators. Supercombinators are used in the implementation of functional languages.

In mathematical terms, a [[Lambda calculus|lambda expression]] ''S'' is a supercombinator of [[arity]] ''n'' if it has no free variables and is of the form λx<sub>1</sub>.λx<sub>2</sub>...λx<sub>n</sub>.''E'' (with ''n''&nbsp;≥&nbsp;0, so that lambdas are not required) such that ''E'' itself is not a [[lambda abstraction]] and any lambda abstraction in ''E'' is again a supercombinator.

== See also ==
* [[Lambda lifting]]

==References==
*S. L. Peyton Jones, ''[https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/simonpj/papers/slpj-book-1987/ The Implementation of Functional Programming Languages]''. Prentice Hall, 1987.

[[Category:Functional programming]]
[[Category:Implementation of functional programming languages]]
[[Category:Lambda calculus]]


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