Comments on: What is a functional programming language? http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/what-is-a-functional-programming-language/ programming, politics, & other religious issues Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:31:40 +0000 hourly 1 By: Scala: Post-Functional, Post-Modern, or Just Perl++? http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/what-is-a-functional-programming-language/#comment-37350 Scala: Post-Functional, Post-Modern, or Just Perl++? Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:13:14 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=1408#comment-37350 [...] a kerfuffle in the comments, Brian enlightened us all by telling us what is a functional programming language. His explanation (while being a self-admitted generalization) is summarized as follows: So, what is [...] [...] a kerfuffle in the comments, Brian enlightened us all by telling us what is a functional programming language. His explanation (while being a self-admitted generalization) is summarized as follows: So, what is [...]

]]> By: Brian Hurt http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/what-is-a-functional-programming-language/#comment-37275 Brian Hurt Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:18:22 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=1408#comment-37275 Algebraic data types are very nice to have, but not necessary to be a functional language (as witnessed by neither Lisp nor Scheme having them). Algebraic data types are very nice to have, but not necessary to be a functional language (as witnessed by neither Lisp nor Scheme having them).

]]> By: Norman Ramsey http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/what-is-a-functional-programming-language/#comment-37268 Norman Ramsey Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:47:14 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=1408#comment-37268 How do algebraic data types fit into your picture? They are an important model of computation in many functional languages, but neither Church nor von Neumann would recognize them. Rod Burstall, phone your office! How do algebraic data types fit into your picture? They are an important model of computation in many functional languages, but neither Church nor von Neumann would recognize them.

Rod Burstall, phone your office!

]]> By: Brian http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/what-is-a-functional-programming-language/#comment-37010 Brian Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:07:51 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=1408#comment-37010 Aaron: No. Let's say you have a non-seperable two-argument function, with say x and y being the arguments. You'd create this function as (fun x -> (fun y -> some expr using x and y)). If you apply a value, say z, to this function, the result is to take the body of the function- in this case, (fun y-> some expr), and in it replace all occurrences of x with z- even down into the body of this lambda expression. So the value of applying z to (fun x -> (fun y -> some expression using x and y)) is (fun y -> some expression using z and y). Or, more concretely, the result of applying the value 1 to the expression (fun x -> (fun y-> x + y)) is (fun y-> 1 + y). You can generalize this to how ever many arguments you want. Aaron: No. Let’s say you have a non-seperable two-argument function, with say x and y being the arguments. You’d create this function as (fun x -> (fun y -> some expr using x and y)). If you apply a value, say z, to this function, the result is to take the body of the function- in this case, (fun y-> some expr), and in it replace all occurrences of x with z- even down into the body of this lambda expression. So the value of applying z to (fun x -> (fun y -> some expression using x and y)) is (fun y -> some expression using z and y). Or, more concretely, the result of applying the value 1 to the expression (fun x -> (fun y-> x + y)) is (fun y-> 1 + y). You can generalize this to how ever many arguments you want.

]]> By: Aaron http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/what-is-a-functional-programming-language/#comment-37009 Aaron Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:17:11 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=1408#comment-37009 Doesn't forcing functions to take only a single parameter limit you to seperable functions though? In math, not all multi-variable functions are reducible to seperable single variable functions. Doesn’t forcing functions to take only a single parameter limit you to seperable functions though? In math, not all multi-variable functions are reducible to seperable single variable functions.

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