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47.1 Introduction

An eager comprehension is a convenient notation for one or more nested or parallel loops generating a sequence of values, and accumulating this sequence into a result. In its most simple form, a comprehension looks like this:

     (list-ec (: i 5)
       (* i i))
     ⇒ (0 1 4 9 16)

where i is a local variable that is sequentially bound to the values 0, 1, ..., 4, and the squares of these numbers are collected in a list. The following example illustrates most conventions with respect to nesting and syntax:

     (list-ec (: n 1 4)
              (: i n)
       (list n i))
     ⇒ ((1 0) (2 0) (2 1)
         (3 0) (3 1) (3 2))

the variable n is first bound to 1 then to 2 and finally to 3, and for each binding of n the variable i is bound to the values 0, 1, ..., n-1 in turn. The expression (list n i) constructs a two–elements list for each binding, and the comprehension list-ec collects all these results in a list.