Exponential Elimination for Bicartesian Closed Categorical Combinators
Nachiappan Valliappan, Alejandro Russo · 2019
Categorical combinators offer a simpler alternative to typed lambda calculi for static analysis and implementation. Since categorical combinators are accompanied by a rich set of conversion rules which arise from categorical laws, they also offer a plethora of opportunities for program optimization. It is unclear, however, how such rules can be applied in a systematic manner to eliminate intermediate values such as exponentials, the categorical equivalent of higher-order functions, from a program built using combinators. Exponential elimination simplifies static analysis and enables a simple closure-free implementation of categorical combinators--reasons for which it has been sought after.