Compiling functional languages for von Neumann machines

Abstract

Functional programming languages based on the lambda calculus provide a powerful programming tool. Much of this power derives from the ability to use higher order functions, that means functions having either functional arguments or a functional result. However, attempts to implement such higher order functions without any restrictions have always been expensive, both in storage and time (e.g. [Bo/We]). ALGOL-like languages only have functions with functional arguments (e.g. ALGOL 60 or, with some mode restrictions, PASCAL) and a run time stack can be used for managing function and procedure calls. Using Dijkstra's “display-technique” we can obtain a simple and efficient implementation.