Let's Talk About Lambda Functions!

[Michael Gilfix]

  Now this one could start a flame war and the answer itself is
impenetrable, I'm sure. I assume you do know what functional
programming is... But a few key highlights to start you off in your
quest for why: proponents of FP believe the software to be much less
error prone and easier to maintain (as it's easier to track down
the source of bugs). Much of this stems from the fact that proper
functional programming makes the use of side-effects more difficult
and makes the general program flow much easier to follow; implied
iteration via the map() function, for example, reduces code clutter
and a possible error in the looping code. Functional programs also
tend to make use of the generate and test paradigm, one which can
offer the most straight-forward solution (not necessarily the most
efficient) in many situations.

  However, functional vs. imperative can be a very religious thing.
But I'm sure most people here in this group, myself included, will
agree that functional stuff is a good thing and the functional style
of programming tends to lead to very concise, easy to maintain, and
readable code.

                         -- Mike

On Fri, Jul 26 @ 12:52, Britt A. Green wrote:
> I guess that begs the question: what's the advantage of functional-style
> programming? :)

-- 
Michael Gilfix
mgilfix at eecs.tufts.edu

For my gpg public key:
http://www.eecs.tufts.edu/~mgilfix/contact.html