trait is pure
Documentation for trait is pure
assembled from the following types:
class Routine
From Routine
(Routine) trait is pure
multi sub trait_mod:<is>(Routine , :!)
Marks a subroutine as pure, that is, it asserts that for the same input, it will always produce the same output without any additional side effects.
The is pure
trait is a promise by the programmer to the compiler that it can constant-fold calls to such functions when the arguments are known at compile time.
sub syllables() is pure
You can mark function as pure even if they throw exceptions in edge cases or if they modify temporary objects; hence the is pure
trait can cover cases that the compiler cannot deduce on its own. On the other hand, you might not want to constant-fold functions that produce a large return value (such as the string or list repetition operators, infix x
and xx
) even if they are pure, to avoid large precompilation files.
To see it an action with a particular compiler you can try this example:
BEGINsay ‘Start’;say (^100).map: ;# Example output:# Begin# Generating syllables# Start# (matiroi yeterani shoriyuru...
Essentially this allows the compiler to perform some operations at compile time. The benefits of constant-folding may include better performance, especially in cases when the folded code is precompiled.
In addition, using a pure function or operator in sink context (that is, where the result is discarded) may lead to a warning. The code
sub double() is pure ;double(21);say "anything";# WARNING: «Useless use of "double(21)" in expression "double(21)" in sink context (line 2)»
If you want to apply this trait to a multi
, you need to apply it to the proto
; it will not work otherwise, at least in versions 2018.08 and below.