Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

From Februray 2025 fwiw. Same result there have been multiple articles here about. I wonder how it would work for Haskell programs (no mutable memory).


I'd view "no mutable memory" as misleading, because immutable languages can still create a new variable and forget an old one which has the same memory footprint as mutating one variable.

Obvious example: the flickering stack frame of tail call elimination.


Haskell has genuine mutable memory, through State and IO.

But even without it, you can emulate mutation in a pure language by threading a "heap" parameter through everything.

There's only at most a log factor of extra space and time required in most computing models to "update" a persistent map (though I'm not sure the best way to encode persistent maps directly in Turing machine tapes, which is the model this result is specifically about)




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2026 batch! Applications are open till July 27.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: