Functional programming is a programming paradigm which primarily uses functions as means for building abstractions and expressing computations that comprise a computer program.
208
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16answers
51k views
What is tail-recursion?
Whilst starting to learn lisp, I've come across the term tail-recursive. What does it mean?
430
votes
15answers
45k views
Getting started with Haskell [closed]
For a few days I've tried to wrap my head around the functional programming paradigm in Haskell. I've done this by reading tutorials and watching screencasts, but nothing really seems to stick.
Now, ...
80
votes
5answers
28k views
Can someone explain Scala's yield?
I understand Ruby and Python's yield. What does Scala's yield do?
69
votes
10answers
7k views
What is the difference between scala self-types and trait subclasses?
Self-types seem to be important so I want to know why they are useful. From what I can gather, a self-type for a trait A:
trait B
trait A { this: B => }
says that "A cannot be mixed into a ...
77
votes
8answers
12k views
What is a 'Closure'?
I asked a question about Currying and closures were mentioned.
What is a closure? How does it relate to currying?
12
votes
3answers
504 views
Idiomatic R code for partitioning a vector by an index and performing an operation on that partition
I'm trying to find the idiomatic way in R to partition a numerical vector by some index vector, find the sum of all numbers in that partition and then divide each individual entry by that partition ...
10
votes
7answers
2k views
What is the exact definition of a closure?
I've read through previous topics on closures on stackflow and other sources and one thing is still confusing me. From what I've been able to piece together technically a closure is simply the set of ...
97
votes
9answers
14k views
Why should a .net developer learn F#? [closed]
What is the new language F# all about? Where is that going to be useful? And what is Microsoft's future plan (release road map) regarding this language?
235
votes
8answers
45k views
What is (functional) reactive programming?
I've read the Wikipedia article on reactive programming. I've also read the small article on functional reactive programming. The descriptions are quite abstract.
What does functional reactive ...
48
votes
6answers
11k views
Generating permutations lazily
I'm looking for an algorithm to generate permutations of a set in such a way that I could make a lazy list of them in Clojure. i.e. I'd like to iterate over a list of permutations where each ...
37
votes
12answers
6k views
Where can F# actually save time and money? [closed]
There is a lot of hype around the latest functional programming language F# from Microsoft. In real life - where (in what kind of scenarios) can F# most likely save time and money?
33
votes
10answers
5k views
Anyone Actually Using F# in Production?
Is anyone actually using F# in a production environment?
If so, what are you using it for and why did you decided to use F#?
Do you recommend a die-hard C# developer to learn F# or do you think it's ...
39
votes
8answers
11k views
Why should I use F#? [closed]
I write client-server based business applications using .Net and C#. Given this, how would F# enable me to write better code? "Better" in any sense, e.g. faster coding, faster execution, better ...
318
votes
18answers
38k views
Does Functional Programming Replace GoF Design Patterns?
Since I started learning F# and OCaml last year, I've read a huge number of articles which insist that design patterns (especially in Java) are workarounds for the missing features in imperative ...
179
votes
9answers
14k views
Monad in plain English? (For the OOP programmer with no FP background)
In terms that an OOP programmer would understand (without any functional programming background), what is a monad?
What problem does it solve and what are the most common places it's used?
EDIT:
To ...
