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But Excel doesn't have first order functions. You can't even define a function in spreadsheet cells, let alone pass one around as a value.
by gruseom 14y ago
But Excel doesn't have first order functions. You can't even define a function in spreadsheet cells, let alone pass one around as a value.
- chousuke 14y agoThe cells are the functions.
- gruseom 14y agoA cell formula defines a computation, but not a function. For it to be a function you have to be able to reuse it (call it as a function) in multiple places. For example, you can't define the abstraction "square" in Excel. You can compute 2 * 2, A1 * A1 and so on. But there's no way to define a construct which given x produces x * x, then reuse that construct everywhere you want to square things. Everywhere you want to square something, you must inline the computation. That's the absence of functional abstraction.
- ww520 14y agoThe reusability test of function nails it. Thanks for clarifying it. Sometimes we just need to go back to the basic definition to make things clear.