On Mar 13, 2005, at 18:38, Brian van den Broek wrote:
Thanks for the explanation, Sean.
The reference to grammatical theory here does seem to make sense. But, relying on correspondence between the technical terms in programming/comp. sci. and other fields with similar terminology can get in the way, too.
I've a background in formal logic; it took me some effort to stop being upset that in Pythonic programming parlance get_a_random_element is a "function":
<SNIP>
Where I come from, the output of a function is determined by the input to the function.
Well, actually, your being upset at that is the exact point of functional programming languages: in functional programming, the output of a function is determined by its input, and *only* its input. Therefore, there are no side-effects (variables being one) calling a function twice with the same arguments will *always* yield the same result.
The only time this paradigm is broken is (of course) when dealing with I/O.
-- Max
maxnoel_fr at yahoo dot fr -- ICQ #85274019
"Look at you hacker... A pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you run through my corridors... How can you challenge a perfect, immortal machine?"
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