4 ms·
Functional means whatever the person saying it means by it. Trying to give an all or nothing definition is doomed to failure and counter-examples.
by scottjad 16y ago
Functional means whatever the person saying it means by it.
Trying to give an all or nothing definition is doomed to failure and counter-examples.
- knowtheory 16y ago“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master that’s all.” Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. “They’ve a temper, some of them—particularly verbs, they’re the proudest—adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs—however, I can manage the whole lot! Impenetrability! That’s what I say!” and just for completenesses sake: Alan Perlis — 48. The best book on programming for the layman is "Alice in Wonderland"; but that's because it's the best book on anything for the layman.
- rufus_t 16y agoIt, and "Through the Looking-glass", are very good books on programming for programmers, too. If you haven't read them since you were liddle, you're missing out.
- gtani 16y agoFP means different to lispers, ML'ers and typeclassists (haskell, scala). Here's my attempt at a def http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2075192 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2075192