Church integer
A Church integer is a representation of integers as functions, invented by Alonzo Church. An integer is represented as a higher-order function, which applies a given function to a given expression times.
For example, in the programming language Haskell, a function that returns a particular Church integer might be
The transformation from a Church integer to an integer might be
unchurch n = n (+1) 0
Thus we can generate the integers–the (+1) function would be applied to an initial value of times, yielding the ordinary integer .
Title | Church integer |
---|---|
Canonical name | ChurchInteger |
Date of creation | 2013-03-22 12:32:31 |
Last modified on | 2013-03-22 12:32:31 |
Owner | mathcam (2727) |
Last modified by | mathcam (2727) |
Numerical id | 8 |
Author | mathcam (2727) |
Entry type | Definition |
Classification | msc 03B40 |
Classification | msc 68N18 |
Related topic | LambdaCalculus |