meaning of church alonzo
1. Church, Alonzo Alonzo Church Church integer A representation of integers as functions invented by Alonzo Church, inventor of lambda-calculus. The integer N is represented as a higher-order function which applies a given function N times to a given expression. In the pure lambda-calculus there are no constants but numbers can be represented by Church integers. A Haskell function to return a given Church integer could be written: church n = c where c f x = if n == 0 then x else c f f x where c = church n-1 A function to turn a Church integer into an ordinary integer: unchurch c = c +1 0 See also von Neumann integer.
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