A Rational Deconstruction of Landin's SECD Machine

Landin’s SECD machine was the first abstract machine for the λ-calculus viewed as a programming language. Both theoretically as a model of computation and practically as an idealized implementation, it the tone for the subsequent development of abstract machines for functional programming languages. However, and even though variants of the SECD machine have been presented, derived, and invented, the precise rationale for its architecture and modus operandi has remained elusive. In this article, we deconstruct the SECD machine into a λinterpreter, i.e., an evaluation function, and we reconstruct λ-interpreters into a variety of SECD-like machines. The deconstruction and reconstructions are transformational: they are based on equational reasoning and on a combination of simple program transformations—mainly closure conversion, transformation into continuation-passing style, and defunctionalization. The evaluation function underlying the SECD machine provides a precise rationale f...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2004
• Where: IFL
• Authors: Olivier Danvy
• Keywords: Abstract Machines, Evaluation Functions, IFL 2004, SECD Machine