[Haskell-cafe] Origins of (x:xs)?

Toby Hutton toby.hutton at gmail.com
Tue Dec 19 17:43:32 EST 2006


Hi,

This may have been asked before, sorry if so.  I've wondered where the
convention of pattern matching a list to (x:xs) came from?  I've read a
couple of old papers recently which let me believe it may have started back
in the '70s with Miranda and its ilk.

Does anyone know why (x:xs)?  Is xs meant to be a synonym for 'excess'?

Yours curiously,
Toby.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.haskell.org/pipermail/haskell-cafe/attachments/20061220/55e47e80/attachment.htm


More information about the Haskell-Cafe mailing list