On 1/31/2010 7:25 PM, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
On Sun, 31 Jan 2010 15:40:36 -0800, Chris Rebert wrote:
On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 2:36 PM, Steven D'Aprano
<st...@remove-this-cybersource.com.au> wrote:
On Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:28:41 -0800, Ed Keith wrote:
In most functional languages you just name a function to access it and
you do it ALL the time.
for example, in if you have a function 'f' which takes two parameters
to call the function and get the result you use:
f 2 3
If you want the function itself you use:
f
How do you call a function of no arguments?
It's not really a function in that case, it's just a named constant.
(Recall that functions don't/can't have side-effects.)
Three of you gave essentially identical answers, but I still do not see
how given something like
def f(): return 1
I differentiate between 'function object at address xxx' and 'int 1'
objects.
time.time(), random.random()
(1264983502.7505889, 0.29974255140479633)
time.time(), random.random()
(1264983505.9283719, 0.74207867411026329)
They don't look terribly constant to me.
I believe these are not functions in a functional language sense.
Neither are input and output 'functions'. So all of these are either
missing or some sort of special function-like something.
I personally take a broader view of functions and include the relevant
environment in their input and output, so that there are no 'side
effects'. The concept of 'side-effect' is somewhat arbitrary. In fields
other than computing, like pharmacology and politics, its meaning is
somewhat different and a bit corrupt.
There is a difference between a function that does "give me whatever
value is specified by a fixed description" and a function that does "give
me a fixed value".
Terry Jan Reedy
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