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Haskell - Interview Questions
Describe the concept of laziness in Haskell and its benefits.
In Haskell, laziness refers to the evaluation strategy where expressions are not evaluated until their results are explicitly needed. Haskell employs lazy evaluation as a default strategy, which means that computations are deferred until their results are required to produce an effect or a value.

Here are some key aspects and benefits of laziness in Haskell :

1. Evaluation on Demand : Lazy evaluation allows Haskell to postpone the evaluation of expressions until they are needed. This approach contrasts with eager evaluation, where expressions are evaluated immediately. Laziness enables computations to be performed only when their results are necessary, leading to more efficient resource utilization.

2. Infinite Data Structures : Haskell's laziness allows the definition and manipulation of potentially infinite data structures. Since only the necessary portion of a data structure is evaluated, it is possible to work with infinite lists, streams, and other structures. This ability is useful for modeling and working with large or unbounded data sets.
3. Modular and Composable Code : Laziness facilitates modularity and composability in Haskell programs. Functions can be defined in terms of higher-level abstractions without worrying about the order of evaluation. This property enables the creation of reusable and composable code components.

4. Improved Efficiency : Laziness can lead to efficiency gains in certain scenarios. By deferring computations until they are needed, unnecessary or redundant computations can be avoided. This can result in reduced memory consumption and improved runtime performance, especially in situations where computations are costly or involve large data structures.

5. Enhanced Abstraction : Laziness promotes abstraction by separating the definition of values or computations from their evaluation. This separation allows programmers to focus on the logical structure of their code and express complex algorithms in a more declarative and concise manner.

6. Control Flow and Short-Circuiting : Laziness enables powerful control flow mechanisms. Conditional expressions can short-circuit, allowing for early termination of computations when the result is already determined. This property is beneficial for expressing and manipulating complex branching logic.

7. Handling Infinite Structures : Laziness provides a natural way to work with infinite structures, such as infinite lists or streams. Operations on infinite structures can be defined without the need for explicit termination conditions, simplifying the expression of algorithms and computations involving infinite data.
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