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31.5 Local Variable Scope

Declaring local variables in the block in which they are used aids in understanding programs because it cuts down on the amount of text scanning or memory required to reunite the declaration and definition.

The following Stan program corresponds to a direct translation of a BUGS model, which uses a different element of mu in each iteration.

model {
  real mu[N];
  for (n in 1:N) {
    mu[n] = alpha * x[n] + beta;
    y[n] ~ normal(mu[n],sigma);
  }
}

Because variables can be reused in Stan and because they should be declared locally for clarity, this model should be recoded as follows.

model {
  for (n in 1:N) {
    real mu;
    mu = alpha * x[n] + beta;
    y[n] ~ normal(mu,sigma);
  }
}

The local variable can be eliminated altogether, as follows.

model {
  for (n in 1:N)
    y[n] ~ normal(alpha * x[n] + beta, sigma);
}

There is unlikely to be any measurable efficiency difference between the last two implementations, but both should be a bit more efficient than the BUGS translation.

Scope of Compound Structures with Componentwise Assignment

In the case of local variables for compound structures, such as arrays, vectors, or matrices, if they are built up component by component rather than in large chunks, it can be more efficient to declare a local variable for the structure outside of the block in which it is used. This allows it to be allocated once and then reused.

model {
  vector[K] mu;
  for (n in 1:N) {
    for (k in 1:K)
      mu[k] = ...;
    y[n] ~ multi_normal(mu,Sigma);
}

In this case, the vector mu will be allocated outside of both loops, and used a total of N times.