Functional programming is a programming paradigm which makes it easy to create, reason about, and compose functions.
-6
votes
0answers
47 views
What language to use for project management system? [closed]
What language do you recommend for project management system?
A very agile language that provides great functionality, scalability and the option to add new modules.
I mean a language that allows me ...
8
votes
2answers
382 views
Functional reactive programming — is Fay expressive enough?
So I'm doing a fairly involved javascript/html client with lots of ajax calls and other involvements of callback-ism. I'm entertaining the thought of using Fay for this purpose. I'm aware of Elm. ...
36
votes
3answers
5k views
Can somebody explain me what are lambda things in programming?
So far I heard about :
Lambda calculus
Lambda programming
Lambda expressions
Lambda functions
Which all seems to be related to functional programming...
Apparently it will be integrated into ...
5
votes
2answers
165 views
What is the name of λx.λf.fx (like reverse apply) in lambda calculus? Does the corresponding function have a standard name in programming?
What is the name of λx.λf.fx in lambda calculus?
Does the corresponding function have a standard name in functional programming languages, like Haskell?
In object oriented programming, is there a ...
5
votes
2answers
161 views
Researching the growth of functional languages
In recent years it seems that functional programming languages have had a real popularity increase. Languages like Erlang, Haskell, Scala, F# and Clojure seem to be pretty well known and many popular ...
7
votes
2answers
494 views
Could we build a functional computer?
As mush as FP has done, in the end, all our programs are structured.
That is, it doesn't matter how pure or functional we make a them - they are always translated to assembly,
so what actually runs ...
15
votes
3answers
1k views
What is the origin and meaning of the phrase “Lambda the ultimate?”
I've been messing around with functional programming languages for a few years, and I keep encountering this phrase. For example, it is a chapter of "The Little Schemer, which certainly predates the ...
0
votes
3answers
220 views
The similarities between Functional Programming & Object Oriented-Imperative Programming? [closed]
The heading couldn't say it anymore better.
I understand the differences between the paradigms but i would like to know the similarities between them.
I'm looking for things that affect the program ...
3
votes
3answers
338 views
How is referential transparency enforced?
In FP languages, calling a function with the same parameters over and over again returns the same result over and over again (i.e. referential transparency).
But a function like this (pseudo-code):
...
5
votes
1answer
141 views
What is the difference between a combinator and function chaining?
So from what I've read about combinators I can't quite tell how they're different from simply chaining function calls. I know I must be missing something but I'm not figuring out what I'm missing. I ...
3
votes
1answer
375 views
What is the difference between functional relational programming and functional programming?
After reading both this thread and the linked paper, I don't understand how FRP (functional relational programming) is different from (FP) functional programming.
Does FRP augment or replace FP? Can ...
23
votes
5answers
2k views
What is the difference between a function and a lambda?
I'm a little bit confused about 'function' and 'lambda'. I've seen some examples showing that the scheme keyword lambda works very similarly to the JavaScript keyword function, but I really don't ...
6
votes
4answers
366 views
Functional Programming: right ideas about concurrency and state?
FP proponents have claimed that concurrency is easy because their paradigm avoids mutable state. I don't get it.
Imagine we're creating a multiplayer dungeon crawl (a roguelike) using FP where we ...
2
votes
4answers
449 views
Resources for learning common algorithms by Lisp [closed]
Many books about algorithms and data structures are coded by imperative languages. Is there any book that can show functional programming languages can do the same thing or do them better?
In ...
4
votes
1answer
141 views
Feature boundaries in functional programming
I very much enjoy the functional programming paradigm, but I am still not sure how to go about designing a small/medium project with it.
When using OO, I have a set of labelled entities (classes) ...
1
vote
1answer
132 views
parallel computing list of objects
I have a list of objects that all require the exact same filtering, basically a set of conditionals in a function which outputs if the object is "good" or "bad". I want to keep all of my "good" ...
26
votes
9answers
3k views
What decent web-frameworks exists for functional programming? [closed]
I would like to do some web programming using functional programming. What decent web-frameworks exists for functional programming languages?
-4
votes
1answer
254 views
Is OOP becoming functional programming? [closed]
Every one knows immutability is the way to go - everyone recommends making your classes as immutable as they can be... but are immutable types still objects?
I have doubt - to me there are simply ...
4
votes
5answers
578 views
In functional programming, are local mutable variables with no side effects still considered “bad practice”?
Is having mutable local variables in a function that are only used internally, (e.g. the function has no side effects, at least not intentionally) still considered "non functional"?
e.g. in the ...
8
votes
0answers
168 views
Functional Programming: efficiently handling whole world changes? [duplicate]
Imagine we're creating a multiplayer dungeon crawl (a roguelike) using FP where we emphasize pure functions and immutable data structures. We generate a dungeon composed of rooms, corridors, heroes, ...
0
votes
0answers
26 views
Question about vpython? [closed]
I have zero programming experience and I am just learning how to use vpython. I am trying to make an object follow a certain path described by a function. Is there any way to do this in vpython? If ...
5
votes
5answers
465 views
Is there any difference between pointers and references? [duplicate]
References and pointers do the same thing as I know. Is there any difference between them?
If there is no difference, why we call them reference not pointer?
6
votes
2answers
380 views
Is Haskell/Clojure actually unsuited for dynamic systems such as particle simulation?
I've been told in previous questions that functional programming languages are unsuited for dynamic systems such as a physics engine, mainly because it's costly to mutate objects. How realistic is ...
8
votes
9answers
560 views
Resources for improving your comprehension of recursion? [closed]
I know what recursion is (when a patten reoccurs within itself, typically a function that calls itself on one of its lines, after a breakout conditional... right?), and I can understand recursive ...
0
votes
0answers
70 views
NGL programming language?
Are there some online resources about the NGL language, please? Google
did not helped much this time. In fact, the only relevant information I was
able to find is the one on Wikipedia...
...
7
votes
2answers
156 views
What is “Semantics visibility”?
I'm reading 97 Things Every Programmer Should Know, now I'm positioned in "Apply Functional Programming Principles", and there is a paragraph that says:
...A leading cause of defects in imperative ...
8
votes
1answer
170 views
Functional Reactive/Relational Programming – Is there a difference?
I've been using Reactive Cocoa (by GitHub), a Functional Reactive Programming API for use with the Cocoa libraries for a while now, but have just read "Out of the Tar Pit", the paper that supposedly ...
7
votes
1answer
287 views
Are “normal order” and “call-by-name” the same thing?
I was studying the book Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs and in section 1.1.5 The Substitution Model for Procedure Application the author explains the concepts of normal order and ...
1
vote
1answer
91 views
Permuting a list of numbers by pushing and popping onto a stack
Suppose we have some long stack of numbers. There is another intermediate stack, and a destination stack to be returned in the end. The only two operations allowed is transferring the top of the old ...
1
vote
1answer
88 views
Ring of numbers where adjacent entries sum up to a prime
Given a number n, find a permutation of the numbers 1...n such that all adjacent entries sum up to primes. If such a permutation does not exist, throw an error.
Is there a purely-functional way to do ...
21
votes
1answer
448 views
Performance of single-assignment ADT oriented code on modern CPUs
Working in immutable data with single assignments has the obvious effect of requiring more memory, one would presume, because you're constantly creating new values (though compilers under the covers ...
11
votes
4answers
507 views
Does groovy call partial application 'currying'?
Groovy has a concept that it calls 'currying'. Here's an example from their wiki:
def divide = { a, b -> a / b }
def halver = divide.rcurry(2)
assert halver(8) == 4
My understanding of what's ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Why functional programming? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why Functional Programming
Hi, I'm new to functional programming. What isn't clear is: In what scenarios could functional programming be used?
One thing I understand ...
-1
votes
1answer
119 views
max(x-y,0) is loop-computable [closed]
I use the programming language Loop: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOOP_%28programming_language%29
I know that the every primitve recursive function is loop computable and vice versa but I would like ...
6
votes
4answers
1k views
What is the name for a NON-self-calling function?
I have a collection of normal functions and self-calling functions within a javascript file. In my comments i want to say something along the lines of "This script can contain both self-calling and ...
7
votes
2answers
325 views
implement cons function in Java - type safety question
I am working on a small functional library written in Java, which mimics the a functional style of programming. I am stuck with a undesirable type cast in one of my method definitions and would love ...
37
votes
5answers
2k views
In functional programming, does having most of the data structures immutable require more memory usage?
In functional programming since almost all data structure are immutable, when the state has to change a new structure is created. Does this mean a lot more memory usage? I know the object oriented ...
2
votes
1answer
132 views
LOOP-computable functions
I was just reading a chapter about LOOP-computable functions and I have the following question: Is it possible to numerate every LOOP program with an algorithm?
Formally: Is it possible to have a ...
1
vote
1answer
109 views
LOOP program only need inc and zero
I have 4 different commands in LOOP programming language:
y=Zero()
y=Val(x)=copy x and put it in register y
y=Inc(x)=x+1
y=Dec(x)=x-1
Finally I also have
loop n times {
...
...
10
votes
5answers
637 views
What is the functional-programming alternative to an interface?
If I want to program in a "functional" style, with what would I replace an interface?
interface IFace
{
string Name { get; set; }
int Id { get; }
}
class Foo : IFace { ... }
Maybe a ...
8
votes
0answers
439 views
Why (or why not) are existential types considered bad practice in functional programming? [closed]
I've sometimes heard that using existential data types is sort of a bad practice in functional programming and that there are ways how to avoid it. I'd like to know, if it is really true, what are the ...
3
votes
1answer
284 views
Is Rebol a functional programming language?
I ran into Rebol and I was wondering about it.
I ran into the following script from here:
use [feed questions answers][
feed: load-xml/dom http://stackoverflow.com/feeds/tag/rebol
...
15
votes
10answers
2k views
How to write useful Java programs without using mutable variables
I was reading an article about functional programming where the writer states
(take 25 (squares-of (integers)))
Notice that it has no variables. Indeed, it has nothing more than three ...
10
votes
5answers
912 views
How to code in a more functional style in Java?
I code Java for at least 5 years now and I really appreciate how the language works. When looking at new JVM languages (e.g. Scala, Clojure) there is a trend to more functional ways to code and this ...
11
votes
1answer
635 views
Reasons for removal of function types in Java 8
I have been trying to understand why the JDK 8 Lambda Expert Group (EG) decided not to include a new function type into the Java programming language.
Going over the mailing list I found a thread ...
4
votes
2answers
398 views
PHP Aspect Oriented Design
This is a continuation of this Code Review question.
What was taken away from that post, and other aspect oriented design is it is hard to debug. To counter that, I implemented the ability to turn ...
2
votes
1answer
90 views
Practical reference for learning about graph reduction
Are there any practical references (with actual examples) for getting started implementing a small, lazy functional programming language with graph reduction? A reference that included the lexing and ...
71
votes
13answers
34k views
What is the advantage of currying?
I just learned about currying, and while I think I understand the concept, I'm not seeing any big advantage in using it.
As a trivial example I use a function that adds two values (written in ML). ...
7
votes
6answers
687 views
Reading SICP with F#? [closed]
I've been meaning to read the SICP book for a while, and am finally about to get around to it (now that I can read it on Kindle :) I'd like to learn a functional language, and I use C# at work so ...
4
votes
2answers
186 views
Who first coined the term Higher Order Function and/or First Class Citizen?
I've come to understand that long before Haskell, O'Caml or LISP, higher order functions were an academic research subject and in mathematics, Schönfinkel (in 1967) and Haskell Curry (in 1968) already ...
