A natural semantics for lazy evaluation

摘要

We define an operational semantics for lazy evaluation which provides an accurate model for sharing. The only computational structure we introduce is a set of bindings which corresponds closely to a heap. The semantics is set at a considerably higher level of abstraction than operational semantics for particular abstract machines, so is more suitable for a variety of proofs. Furthermore, because a heap is explicitly modelled, the semantics provides a suitable framework for studies about space behaviour of terms under lazy evaluation.