Evaluation Strategies
Evaluation strategies are rules in programming languages that determine when and how arguments to functions are evaluated. They define the order and timing of expression computation, impacting performance, side effects, and program behavior. Common strategies include strict (eager) evaluation, where arguments are evaluated before function application, and non-strict (lazy) evaluation, where evaluation is deferred until needed.
Developers should learn evaluation strategies to optimize performance and control side effects in functional and imperative programming. For example, lazy evaluation is crucial in languages like Haskell for handling infinite data structures, while strict evaluation in languages like Python ensures predictable execution order. Understanding these concepts helps in debugging, writing efficient code, and choosing appropriate languages for specific tasks like stream processing or resource management.