There’s a cliche: any problem can be solved with another layer of indirection. That’s true, but does your brilliant idea for a new layer of indirection actually solve a problem? In this episode, we explore this question and develop a rule of thumb for evaluating layers of indirection.
Thoughts on Functional Programming Podcast
An off-the-cuff stream of Functional Programming ideas, skills, patterns, and news from Functional Programming expert Eric Normand.
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What a monoid is and why monoids kick monads’ butt
Everyone talks about monads but monoids are where it’s at. Monoids are simple and make distributed computation a breeze. In this episode, we learn the two properties that make an operation a monoid, and how to use it do distributed computation.
How do you implement lazy evaluation?
Lazy evaluation is easily implemented in any language that can create first-class computations. That means functions or objects. In this episode, I explain how to implement a Delay, which is a reusable lazy component that is common in functional programming languages.
What is lazy evaluation?
Lazy evaluation is a common technique in functional programming for separating two concerns: how you generate a value from whether/when you actually generate it. We look at the two different kinds of laziness and the benefits it gives you.
How is recursion like a for loop?
People think recursion is hard but it’s no harder than a for loop. In fact, it’s got the same parts, they’re just not laid out in the same way. In this episode, we look at how you can spot those three parts in any recursive function.
Why do programmers put up with so much pain?
If you’re using a less popular language, it may seem like there is a ton of pain there. But there’s pain everywhere. Every stack has its own problems. The key is you need to pick the pain you want to live with.
Can you always find a layer of meaning in which your problem is easier?
I’ve always found switching languages to be educational. I learn a lot. It always makes me wonder what I might learn from a non-existing language that I would bring back to my favorite languages.
What is point-free style?
Point-free style is a way of defining functions with a very simple constraint: you cannot name arguments or intermediate values. How can you possibly do that? Well, with higher-order functions, of course. For instance, with function composition, you can define a new function without naming the arguments. Some languages, like the APL family, or Haskell, let you do this very easily.
What is referential transparency?
Referential transparency is a term you’ll hear a lot in functional programming. It means that an expression can be replaced by its result. That is, 5+4 can be replaced by 9, without changing the behavior of the program. You can extend the definition also to functions. So you can say + is referentially transparent, because if you call it with the same values, it will give you the same answer.