A Selective CPS Transformation

By Lasse R. Nielsen. 2001

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Abstract The CPS transformation makes all functions continuation-passing, uniformly. Not all functions, however, need continuations: they only do if their evaluation includes computational effects. In this paper we focus on control operations, in particular “call with current continuation” and “throw”. We characterize this involvement as a control effect and we present a selective CPS transformation that makes functions and expressions continuation-passing if they have a control effect, and that leaves the rest of the program in direct style. We formalize this selective CPS transformation with an operational semantics and a simulation theorem a la Plotkin.

Subfields: Artificial Intelligence, Computational Theory and Mathematics, Program Analysis & Verification