refactor: extract abstract Expression interface (#30)

## Description

The codebase currently couples the engine and plugins directly to `lambda.Expression`.
This PR introduces an abstract `expr.Expression` interface to enable future support for multiple evaluation modes.

- Add `pkg/expr/expr.go` with an `Expression` interface requiring a `String()` method.
- Update `lambda.Expression` to embed `expr.Expression`.
- Add `String()` method to `Abstraction`, `Application`, and `Variable` types.
- Update plugins to use `String()` instead of `lambda.Stringify()`.

### Decisions

- The `expr.Expression` interface is minimal (only `String()`) to avoid over-constraining future expression types.
- The engine still stores `*lambda.Expression` directly rather than `expr.Expression`, because Go's interface semantics require pointer indirection for in-place mutation during reduction.
- Future evaluation modes will implement their own concrete types satisfying `expr.Expression`.

## Benefits

- Establishes a foundation for supporting multiple evaluation modes (SKI combinators, typed lambda calculus, etc.).
- Plugins now use the abstract `String()` method, making them more decoupled from the lambda-specific implementation.
- Prepares the codebase for a Reducer interface abstraction in a future PR.

## Checklist

- [x] Code follows conventional commit format.
- [x] Branch follows naming convention (`<type>/<description>`).
- [x] Tests pass (if applicable).
- [ ] Documentation updated (if applicable).

Reviewed-on: #30
Co-authored-by: M.V. Hutz <git@maximhutz.me>
Co-committed-by: M.V. Hutz <git@maximhutz.me>
This commit was merged in pull request #30.
This commit is contained in:
2026-01-16 23:37:31 +00:00
committed by Maxim Hutz
parent 5c54f4e195
commit e0114c736d
6 changed files with 39 additions and 15 deletions

11
pkg/expr/expr.go Normal file
View File

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
// Package expr provides the abstract Expression interface for all evaluatable
// expression types in the lambda interpreter.
package expr
// Expression is the base interface for all evaluatable expression types.
// Different evaluation modes (lambda calculus, SKI combinators, typed lambda
// calculus, etc.) implement this interface with their own concrete types.
type Expression interface {
// String returns a human-readable representation of the expression.
String() string
}

View File

@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
package lambda
import "git.maximhutz.com/max/lambda/pkg/expr"
// Expression is the interface for all lambda calculus expression types.
// It embeds the general expr.Expression interface for cross-mode compatibility.
type Expression interface {
expr.Expression
Accept(Visitor)
}
@@ -23,6 +28,10 @@ func (a *Abstraction) Accept(v Visitor) {
v.VisitAbstraction(a)
}
func (a *Abstraction) String() string {
return Stringify(a)
}
func NewAbstraction(parameter string, body Expression) *Abstraction {
return &Abstraction{parameter: parameter, body: body}
}
@@ -46,6 +55,10 @@ func (a *Application) Accept(v Visitor) {
v.VisitApplication(a)
}
func (a *Application) String() string {
return Stringify(a)
}
func NewApplication(abstraction Expression, argument Expression) *Application {
return &Application{abstraction: abstraction, argument: argument}
}
@@ -64,6 +77,10 @@ func (v *Variable) Accept(visitor Visitor) {
visitor.VisitVariable(v)
}
func (v *Variable) String() string {
return Stringify(v)
}
func NewVariable(name string) *Variable {
return &Variable{value: name}
}