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virtual arms are aliases
commit6bfa63e9c4f5b486b3dfe922067acfb2deafe636 authorsyzygyzer <jon@tlon.io> dateThu 14 May 2020, 15:24 (6 years ago) parentee469e5
1 file changed+6−10
reference/hoon-expressions/rune/lus.md+6−10
reference/hoon-expressions/rune/lus.md+6−10
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ Any Hoon expression, `q`, may be used to define the arm computation.
135135
136136### +* "lustar"
137137
138−Used to assign an alias to doors and define virtual arms.
138+Defines aliases within doors.
139139
140140##### Syntax
141141
@@ -158,12 +158,8 @@ type of lus arm.
158158##### Discussion
159159
160160The primary use of `+*` is to assign aliases to doors (see Examples below).
161−However, they may also be used to define "virtual arms" that do not count
162−towards the number of arms in cores that requires a specific
163−number of arms, such as Gall app cores. Put another way, no matter how many virtual
164−arms are defined in a `+*` statement, the interpreter does not count it towards
165−the number of arms in the core. How these virtual arms really work can be understood more
166−precisely by the following.
161+Aliases given by `+*` do not count towards the number of arms in the door, which
162+can be important for things like Gall app cores.`
167163
168164Under the hood, `+*` gets compiled as `=*`'s. `+* foo bar` rewrites each `++`
169165arm beneath it in the core to include
@@ -199,9 +195,9 @@ To assign an alias to a door, we often write the following.
199195This is the idomatic way to assign the alias `this` to the door.
200196
201197Sometimes cores, such as Gall app cores, have a fixed number of arms, but you'd
202−like to include more. This is where virtual arms may be of use. We note that it
203−is often better style to compose cores with `=>` or `=<` to add more arms to a
204−Gall app, though. This usage of `+*` is controversial and should be minimized.
198+like to include more. This is where aliases employed as "virtual arms" may be of
199+use. We note that it is often better style to compose cores with `=>` or `=<` to add more arms to a
200+Gall app core. This usage of `+*` is controversial and should be minimized.
205201
206202```hoon
207203|_ =bowl:gall