10 ms·

I didn't appreciate how much of a difference it would make until I tried it, but now I know that one of the best ways of making code more comprehensible is to e

I didn't appreciate how much of a difference it would make until I tried it, but now I know that one of the best ways of making code more comprehensible is to eliminate any questions about interactions between components by using a language with referential transparency. The results of functions should be determined solely by the values of their arguments, with no contamination by shared state and no side effects.

macintux 11y ago
Yes, yes, yes. Refactoring code without side effects is so incredibly liberating: I barely have to compile many changes, much less carefully test them, because they're so obviously correct, because I can SEE the flow. I don't have to speculate on what the rest of the system thinks is going on.
enraged_camel 11y ago
In other words, a pure function. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_function https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_function
- pklausler 11y ago
  In mathematical words, a function.
Kiro 11y ago
What languages are you referring to? What languages do not support referential transparency?
- macintux 11y ago
  There's a significant difference between a language which permits it and a language which embraces it.
  - pklausler 11y ago
    My tongue-in-cheek programming language selection rule: avoid languages that require punctuation to call a function -- like f(x,y), x.f(y), (f x y), or x f: y.