What is the difference between eager and lazy evaluation?

What is the difference between eager and lazy evaluation?

Eager evaluation computes expressions as soon as they are bound to a variable, while lazy evaluation delays computation until the value is needed.

Can you give me an example of each?

Sure! In eager evaluation, if you have a function that adds two numbers, it will compute the sum immediately. In lazy evaluation, it would only compute the sum when you actually use the result.

What are the advantages of lazy evaluation?

Lazy evaluation can improve performance by avoiding unnecessary calculations and can handle infinite data structures more efficiently.

Are there any downsides to using lazy evaluation?

Yes, lazy evaluation can lead to increased memory usage and can make debugging more challenging due to deferred computations.