Continuation

In <a href="/facts/Computer_science/lN3pEyPz">computer science</a>, a continuation is an <a href="/facts/Abstraction_(computer_science)/hAnxmJle">abstract representation</a> of the <a href="/facts/Control_flow/2XTDfErC">control state</a> of a <a href="/facts/Computer_program/e38jH9N9">computer program</a>. A continuation implements (<a href="/facts/Reification_(computer_science)/bWHmLPs5">reifies</a>) the program control state, i.e. the continuation is a data structure that represents the computational process at a given point in the process's execution; the created data structure can be accessed by the programming language, instead of being hidden in the <a href="/facts/Run-time_system/YmCuC4xP">runtime environment</a>. Continuations are useful for encoding other control mechanisms in programming languages such as <a href="/facts/Exception_handling/VrJxgb9r">exceptions</a>, <a href="/facts/Generator_(computer_science)/nHRrs0GF">generators</a>, <a href="/facts/Coroutine/hGCtXsAQ">coroutines</a>, and so on.
The "current continuation" or "continuation of the computation step" is the continuation that, from the perspective of running code, would be derived from the current point in a program's execution. The term continuations can also be used to refer to first-class continuations, which are constructs that give a <a href="/facts/Programming_language/cWTYbgWa">programming language</a> the ability to save the execution state at any point and return to that point at a later point in the program, possibly multiple times.

Continuation open-in-new

Continuation