delta
Lib.type 'a delta
A type used for telling when a function has changed its argument.
The delta type is declared as follows:
datatype 'a delta = SAME | DIFF of 'a
The delta type may be used in applications where it is important to
tell if a function has changed its argument or not. As an example of
this, consider mapping a function over a large collection of elements.
If only a few elements are changed, it makes sense to re-use all those
that were not changed. This can of course be handled on an ad hoc basis;
the delta type provides a mechanism for doing this systematically.
Comments
The delta type is an example of polytypism.