tuple

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<programming> In functional languages, a data object containing two or more components. Also known as a product type or pair, triple, quad, etc. Tuples of different sizes have different types, in contrast to lists where the type is independent of the length. The components of a tuple may be of different types whereas all elements of a list have the same type.

Examples of tuples (in Haskell notation) are: (1,2), ("Tuple",True), (w,(x,y),z). The degenerate tuple type with zero components, written (), is known as the unit type since it has only one possible value which is also written ().

The implementation of tuples in a language may be either "lifted" or not. If tuples are lifted then (bottom, bottom) /= bottom (where bottom represents non-termination) and the evaluation of a tuple may fail to terminate. E.g. in Haskell:

	f (x, y) = 1    -->    f bottom = bottom
			       f (bottom, bottom) = 1

With lifted tuples, a tuple pattern is refutable. Thus in Haskell, pattern matching on tuples is the same as pattern matching on types with multiple constructors (algebraic data types) - the expression being matched is evaluated as far as the top level constructor, even though, in the case of tuples, there is only one possible constructor for a given type.

If tuples are unlifted then (bottom, bottom) = bottom and evaluation of a tuple will never fail to terminate though any of the components may. E.g. in Miranda:

	f (x, y) = 1    -->    f bottom = 1
			       f (bottom, bottom) = 1

Thus in Miranda, any object whose type is compatible with a tuple pattern is assumed to match at the top level without evaluation - it is an irrefutable pattern. This also applies to user defined data types with only one constructor. In Haskell, patterns can be made irrefutable by adding a "~" as in

	f ~(x, y) = 1.

If tuple constructor functions were strict in all their arguments then (bottom, x) = (x, bottom) = bottom for any x so matching a refutable pattern would fail to terminate if any component was bottom.

(2012-03-25)

Nearby terms: tunnelling « Tunny Emulator « TUPLE « tuple » tuple calculus » Tuple Space Smalltalk » tupling

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