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Everything about Anamorphism

Programming function applied recursively to its previous result

In computer programming, an anamorphism is a function that generates a sequence by repeated application of the function to its previous result. You begin with some value A and apply a function f to it to get B. Then you apply f to B to get C, and so on until some terminating condition is reached. The anamorphism is the function that generates the list of A, B, C, etc. The anamorphism can be thought of as unfolding the initial value into a sequence. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: AnamorphismA 5-minute orientation
  2. Pick up a classic book: Johannes DeutschThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  3. Read the landmark paper: Angular spectrum method with correction of anamorphism for numerical reconstruction of digital holograms on tilted planesCited 136 times
  4. Go sideways: CatamorphismA closely related topic
  5. Go sideways: Hylomorphism (computer science)A closely related topic

📖 Definitions

Noun A generalization of the list-producing unfolds known from functional programming to arbitrary abstract data types that can be described as final coalgebras.

🗂️ The subject at a glance

  1. Anamorphisms in functional programming
  2. History
  3. Applications
  4. Anamorphisms in category theory

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

📚 Books worth reading

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

🔗 Related topics