aboutsummaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/src/content/chapter1_functions/lesson02_tail_calls
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'src/content/chapter1_functions/lesson02_tail_calls')
-rw-r--r--src/content/chapter1_functions/lesson02_tail_calls/code.gleam21
-rw-r--r--src/content/chapter1_functions/lesson02_tail_calls/text.html23
2 files changed, 44 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/src/content/chapter1_functions/lesson02_tail_calls/code.gleam b/src/content/chapter1_functions/lesson02_tail_calls/code.gleam
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d823eec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/content/chapter1_functions/lesson02_tail_calls/code.gleam
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import gleam/io
+
+pub fn main() {
+ io.debug(factorial(5))
+ io.debug(factorial(7))
+}
+
+pub fn factorial(x: Int) -> Int {
+ // The public function calls the private tail recursive function
+ factorial_loop(x, 1)
+}
+
+fn factorial_loop(x: Int, accumulator: Int) -> Int {
+ case x {
+ 1 -> accumulator
+
+ // The last thing this function does is call itself
+ // In the previous lesson the last thing it did was multiple two ints
+ _ -> factorial_loop(x - 1, accumulator * x)
+ }
+}
diff --git a/src/content/chapter1_functions/lesson02_tail_calls/text.html b/src/content/chapter1_functions/lesson02_tail_calls/text.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ec39cda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/content/chapter1_functions/lesson02_tail_calls/text.html
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+<p>
+ When a function is called a new stack frame is created in memory to store the
+ arguments and local variables of the function. If lots of these frames are
+ created during recursion then the program would use a large amount of memory,
+ or even crash the program if some limit is hit.
+</p>
+<p>
+ To avoid this problem Gleam supports <em>tail call optimisation</em>, which
+ allows the compiler to reuse the stack frame for the current function if a
+ function call is the last thing the function does, removing the memory cost.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+ Unoptimised recursive functions can often be rewritten into tail call
+ optimised functions by using an accumulator. An accumulator is a variable that
+ is passed along in addition to the data, similar to a mutable variable in a
+ language with <code>while</code> loops.
+</p>
+<p>
+ Accumulators should be hidden away from the users of your code, they are
+ internal implementation details. To do this write a public function that calls
+ a recursive private function with the initial accumulator value.
+</p>