last call optimisation

1 definition found

last call optimisation - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  last call optimisation
  tail call optimisation
  tail call optimization
  
     <programming> (Or "tail call optimisation") Discarding the
     immediate calling context (call stack frame) when the last
     action of a function or procedure, A, is to call another
     function or procedure, B.  B will then return directly to A's
     caller, or possibly further up the call stack if the
     optimisation has been applied to several consecutive calls.
  
     Last call optimisation allows arbitrarily deep nesting of
     procedure calls without consuming memory to store useless
     environments.  This is particularly useful in the special case
     of tail recursion optimisation, where a procedure's last
     action is to call itself (possibly indirectly).
  
     (2007-03-16)