Punctual changes take effect at the next cycle boundary by default — use <> 0 for near-immediate switching

When a Punctual program is re-evaluated, the switch from the old to the new program does not happen instantaneously. By default it occurs at the next cycle boundary with a short crossfade. This means an edit may seem to not take effect for up to one cycle. For near-immediate switching, append <> 0 to the output statement — this requests a zero-second crossfade. For a deliberate slow morph between programs, use <> n with a larger n. The <> quantization is a feature (smooth transitions) that can look like a bug if not understood.

Examples

[0.5, 0.2, 0.8] >> rgb — change takes up to one cycle. [0.5, 0.2, 0.8] >> rgb <> 0 — switches as immediately as possible.

Assessment

A student edits a Punctual program and the change seems to be ignored for a moment. Explain why and describe how to configure near-immediate switching.