memo function

(Or "memoised function") A {function} that

remembers which {arguments} it has been called with and the

result returned and, if called with the same arguments again,

returns the result from its memory rather than recalculating

it.

This same principle is found at the hardware level in computer

architectures which use a {cache} to store recently accessed

memory locations.

A {Common Lisp} package by Marty Hall

which supports memoisation is

available by {(ftp://archive.cs.umbc.edu/pub/Memoization)}.

(1999-07-31)