mirror of
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs.git
synced 2024-11-22 15:03:28 +00:00
lib.fix: Improve doc
The original doc did not help with understanding at all, and the wikipedia link was actively harmful.
This commit is contained in:
parent
e809af74eb
commit
1f8b5c039e
@ -1,26 +1,66 @@
|
||||
{ lib, ... }:
|
||||
rec {
|
||||
/*
|
||||
Compute the fixed point of the given function `f`, which is usually an
|
||||
attribute set that expects its final, non-recursive representation as an
|
||||
argument:
|
||||
`fix f` computes the fixed point of the given function `f`. In other words, the return value is `x` in `x = f x`.
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
f = self: { foo = "foo"; bar = "bar"; foobar = self.foo + self.bar; }
|
||||
`f` is usually returns an attribute set that expects its final, non-recursive representation as an argument.
|
||||
`f` must be a lazy function.
|
||||
|
||||
**How it works**
|
||||
|
||||
For context, Nix lets you define attribute set values in terms of other attributes using the `rec { }` attribute set literal syntax.
|
||||
|
||||
```nix
|
||||
nix-repl> rec {
|
||||
foo = "foo";
|
||||
bar = "bar";
|
||||
foobar = foo + bar;
|
||||
}
|
||||
{ bar = "bar"; foo = "foo"; foobar = "foobar"; }
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
Nix evaluates this recursion until all references to `self` have been
|
||||
resolved. At that point, the final result is returned and `f x = x` holds:
|
||||
This is convenient when constructing a value to pass to a function for example, but a similar effect can be achieved with a `let` binding:
|
||||
|
||||
```nix
|
||||
nix-repl> let self = {
|
||||
foo = "foo";
|
||||
bar = "bar";
|
||||
foobar = self.foo + self.bar;
|
||||
}; in self
|
||||
{ bar = "bar"; foo = "foo"; foobar = "foobar"; }
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
`let` bindings are nice, but as it is with `let` bindings in general, we may get more reuse out of the code by defining a function.
|
||||
|
||||
```nix
|
||||
nix-repl> f = self: {
|
||||
foo = "foo";
|
||||
bar = "bar";
|
||||
foobar = self.foo + self.bar;
|
||||
}
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
This is where `fix` comes in. Note that the body of the `fix` function
|
||||
looks a lot like our earlier `let` binding, and that's no coincidence.
|
||||
Fix is no more than such a recursive `let` binding, but with everything
|
||||
except the recursion factored out into a function parameter `f`.
|
||||
|
||||
```nix
|
||||
fix = f:
|
||||
let self = f self; in self;
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
So applying `fix` is another way to express our earlier examples.
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
nix-repl> fix f
|
||||
{ bar = "bar"; foo = "foo"; foobar = "foobar"; }
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
Type: fix :: (a -> a) -> a
|
||||
This example did not _need_ `fix`, and arguably it shouldn't be used in such an example.
|
||||
However, `fix` is useful when your `f` is a parameter, or when it is constructed from higher order functions.
|
||||
|
||||
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-point_combinator for further
|
||||
details.
|
||||
Type: fix :: (a -> a) -> a
|
||||
*/
|
||||
fix = f: let x = f x; in x;
|
||||
|
||||
|
Loading…
Reference in New Issue
Block a user