14
In particular with respect to pattern matching and case classes. Consider the following:
abstract class Expr
case class Var(name: String) extends Expr
case class Number(num: Double) extends Expr
case class UnOp(operator: String, arg: Expr) extends Expr
case class BinOp(operator: String, left: Expr, right: Expr) extends Expr
object Expr {
def simplify(expr: Expr): Expr = expr match {
// Some basic simplification rules...
case UnOp("-", UnOp("-", e)) => simplify(e) // Double negation
case BinOp("+", e, Number(0)) => simplify(e) // Adding zero
case BinOp("-", e, Number(0)) => simplify(e) // Subtracting zero
case BinOp("*", e, Number(1)) => simplify(e) // Multiplying by one
case BinOp("*", e, Number(0)) => Number(0) // Multiplying by zero
case _ => expr // Default, could not simplify given above rules
}
}
Given any sample call, say, simplify(UnOp("-", UnOp("-", UnOp("-", UnOp("-", Var("x")))))) (which results in Var("x")), does the order of the alternatives in the match expression matter for performance?
Side note, kind of related (my own observation): One thing that really strikes me about simplify is that it is a recursive function, although unlike other recursive functions I've written / dealt with, the base case comes last in order to avoid terminating early.