make extern(::Thunk) recursive (#48)

* make extern(::Thunk) recursive, and improve show(::Thunk)

* bump version (breaking)

* make this a unreleased version

* mark nonbreaking

* fix tabs

Author: oxinabox

Project.toml

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 name = "ChainRulesCore"
 uuid = "d360d2e6-b24c-11e9-a2a3-2a2ae2dbcce4"
-version = "0.2.0"
+version = "0.2.1-DEV"
 
 [compat]
 julia = "^1.0"

src/differentials.jl

@@ -181,6 +181,24 @@ Base.iterate(::One, ::Any) = nothing
     Thunk(()->v)
 A thunk is a deferred computation.
 It wraps a zero argument closure that when invoked returns a differential.
+
+Calling that thunk, calls the wrapped closure.
+`extern`ing thunks applies recursively, it also externs the differial that the closure returns.
+If you do not want that, then simply call the thunk
+
+```
+julia> t = @thunk(@thunk(3))
+Thunk(var"##7#9"())
+
+julia> extern(t)
+3
+
+julia> t()
+Thunk(var"##8#10"())
+
+julia> t()()
+3
+```
 """
 struct Thunk{F} <: AbstractDifferential
     f::F
@@ -190,7 +208,8 @@ macro thunk(body)
     return :(Thunk(() -> $(esc(body))))
 end
 
-@inline extern(x::Thunk) = x.f()
+(x::Thunk)() = x.f()
+@inline extern(x::Thunk) = extern(x())
 
 Base.Broadcast.broadcastable(x::Thunk) = broadcastable(extern(x))
 
@@ -206,3 +225,5 @@ end
 end
 
 Base.conj(x::Thunk) = @thunk(conj(extern(x)))
+
+Base.show(io::IO, x::Thunk) = println(io, "Thunk($(repr(x.f)))")

test/differentials.jl

@@ -49,6 +49,25 @@
         @test conj(o) == o
     end
 
+    @testset "Thunk" begin
+        @test @thunk(3) isa Thunk
+
+        @testset "show" begin
+            rep = repr(Thunk(rand))
+            @test occursin(r"Thunk\(.*rand.*\)", rep)
+        end
+
+        @testset "Externing" begin
+            @test extern(@thunk(3)) == 3
+            @test extern(@thunk(@thunk(3))) == 3
+        end
+
+        @testset "calling thunks should call inner function" begin
+            @test (@thunk(3))() == 3
+            @test (@thunk(@thunk(3)))() isa Thunk
+        end
+    end
+
     @testset "No ambiguities in $f" for f in (+, *)
         # We don't use `Test.detect_ambiguities` as we are only interested in
         # the +, and * operations. We also would catch any that are unrelated