Questions tagged [pure-function]
A pure function is one that always evaluates to the same thing given the same arguments, and cannot change or depend on any external state.
36
questions
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What's the difference between a pure function that expects a complex object of a particular type and object oriented programming?
What's the difference between writing OO code that depends on internal state and writing a pure function that expects an argument that is a data structure of a specific type (and thus has internal ...
6
votes
2answers
319 views
Functional architecture with lots of I/O
I'm learning about "Functional Core, Imperative Shell" as espoused by Gary Bernhardt in his talk about "Boundaries". In reality, it seems like these ideas have been known for a ...
0
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1answer
103 views
Can I enforce “functional core, imperative” shell with a framework?
The design pattern known as "functional core, imperative shell" is about separating side-effects from pure calculations, where business logic is supposed to be pure and then coordinated by ...
4
votes
1answer
423 views
Is the “Substring” method pure (in C#)? If yes, why isn't it annotated as [Pure]?
The Substring method of C#'s string class (which is also available in every other .Net language) does not seem to alter state and will always return the same value, given the same arguments.
So is it ...
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3answers
287 views
what it means when someone says - “statements/instructions are not composable”?
I have been using c# and trying to learn FP. In context of FP I often hear that usage of basic assignment or return statements are not considered composable, hence their usage is not advised in FP ...
7
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2answers
536 views
Why are impure functions said to be non-composable?
I understand what pure functions are and when someone says pure functions are composable - I believe it means that the output of one function can be passed as an input to another function but same ...
5
votes
5answers
436 views
Implicit reading/writing of state in OOP hurts readability, maintainability, and testability. Good way of mitigating this damage?
OOP makes state reads and writes implicit. For instance, in Python:
class Foo:
def bar(self):
# This method may read and/or write any number of self.attributes.
# There is no way ...
49
votes
6answers
6k views
Is a memoized pure function itself considered pure?
Let’s say fn(x) is a pure function that does something expensive, like returning a list of the prime factors of x.
And let’s say we make a memoized version of the same function called memoizedFn(x). ...
10
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2answers
796 views
How does functional programming handle the situation where the same object is referenced from multiple places?
I am reading and hearing that people (also on this site) routinely praise the functional programming paradigm, emphasising how good it is to have everything immutable. Notably, people propose this ...
15
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6answers
2k views
Pure functional vs tell, don't ask?
"The ideal number of arguments for a function is zero" is plain wrong. The ideal number of arguments is exactly the number needed to enable your function to be side-effect free. Less than that and you ...
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votes
1answer
96 views
Why are ReactiveX Operators considered functional?
I'm struggling to understand how a ReactiveX operator can be considered functional.
Operators are implemented as functions, but but with the exception of simple operators like map and reduce many of ...
9
votes
3answers
722 views
Why usage of assignment operator or loops discouraged in functional programming?
If my function meets below two requirements, I believe function Sum to return the summation of items in a list where item evaluates to true for given condition qualifies to be referred as pure ...
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1answer
905 views
Naming conventions for pure functions
Are there 'conventions' / best practices on naming pure functions?
For example:
adding numbers: add or sum?
calculating the square root: calcSqrt or sqrt?
reversing a list: reverse or reversed?
...
4
votes
2answers
639 views
This functional programming example and what it means
I've been reading Out of the Tar Pit by Ben Moseley and Peter Marks and in section 5.2.3 they discuss state in functional languages compared to procedural languages. The procedural example is as ...
2
votes
2answers
228 views
Functional programming: does using a generic make a function impure?
public static Func<string, Task<T>> MyMethod<T>(
UserCredentials credentials,
Func<string, string, string, Task<T>> func
) =>
async (value) ...
8
votes
4answers
785 views
Is implicitly depending on pure functions bad (in particular, for testing)?
To extend a bit on the title, I'm trying to get to some conclusion about whether it is necessary or not to explicitly declare (i.e. inject) pure functions on which some other function or class depends....
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Are all deterministic functions free of side-effects (and vice versa)?
I'm reading about pure-functions in functional programming and am wondering, whether a function being deterministic implies that the function is also side-effect free? (and vice versa?)
27
votes
5answers
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Does catching/throwing exceptions render an otherwise pure method impure?
The following code examples provide context to my question.
The Room class is initialized with a delegate. In the first implementation of the Room class, there are no guards against delegates that ...
4
votes
1answer
218 views
Is anything gained by making dependencies explicit via function argument lists when implementing pure methods?
This question is followup to this question.
Is there any benefit in avoiding the 'this' operator when implementing pure methods? That is, are there any advantages to making all dependencies explicit ...
5
votes
3answers
766 views
Can a function be pure if it depends on an immutable instance field?
In the following c# code example, the instance field [name] is readonly, and therefore is immutable after class construction.
public sealed class Example
{
public readonly string name;
...
2
votes
2answers
439 views
Simulated functional programming in C — passing the entire program state as a function argument
I have a struct called State which holds all the variables for the program. Rather than being modified by functions directly, it is the value returned.
Here is some code:
#define USERNAME_LENGTH 20
#...
2
votes
1answer
285 views
Pure functions and the outer scope [duplicate]
Excuse my ignorance, I come from the C family of languages but zero exposure to functional languages. I've read that pure functions only generate output based on a given input. Same input gives the ...
2
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1answer
188 views
Programatically determine that some functions are pure
I saw this question that shows it is impossible to programatically determine if a javascript function is pure, but is it sometimes possible to affirm that a function is pure - so something like...
...
43
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7answers
14k views
What do you call a function where the same input will always return the same output, but also has side effects?
Say we have a normal pure function such as
function add(a, b) {
return a + b
}
And then we alter it such that it has a side effect
function add(a, b) {
writeToDatabase(Math.random())
return a ...
2
votes
4answers
2k views
What is Big-O notation for purely functional languages?
Is it still relevant?
Instead of
var result = new List<int>();
for (var i = 0; i < prev.Count; ++i)
{
result.Add(prev[i] * 2);
}
where the result.Add, prev[i], and * 2 instructions are ...
2
votes
1answer
420 views
Enumerating the primitive recursive functions
How can I enumerate (by expression tree size, for example) all of the primitive recursive functions that map natural numbers to natural numbers in a traditional programming language like C?
For ...
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votes
1answer
156 views
Does pure functional programming become agility impediment? [closed]
While I like benefits of strong typing system, there is one thing that worries me the most. I think of strong type system as means of forcing design choices. If a team builds a system unaware of its ...
17
votes
5answers
3k views
Is a function immediately impure if it takes a function as a parameter?
Since the purity of an input parameter is an unknown until runtime, is a function immediately considered impure if it takes a function as an input parameter?
Related: if a function applies a pure ...
5
votes
4answers
4k views
Why shouldn't pure functions always be static and public? [duplicate]
What are the reasons, technical or otherwise, that pure functions (functions which do not rely on external state and have no side effects) should not always be public and static?
When a static and ...
13
votes
3answers
2k views
Origin of “a method should return a value or have side-effects, but not both”
I read once that a method should either have a return value (and be referentially transparent), or have side-effect(s), but not both. I cannot find any references to this rule, but want to learn more ...
0
votes
1answer
327 views
How to encourage to write pure functions in imperative environments? [closed]
In functional programming languages, a developer is always cautious about writing pure functions. Some functional languages simply do not allow impure functions, and some other functional languages ...
7
votes
2answers
1k views
Alternative to language purity
Purity
One of the interesting concepts in Haskell is the purity. However, I am wondering what the pragmatic reasons behind this is - let me explain a bit more before you reject my question.
My main ...
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votes
4answers
3k views
Is there a good reason to make pure functions non-public?
I had a little debate going on with a coworker. Simply put, is there a good reason to hide/encapsulate functions that are pure?
By "pure" I mean the wikipedia definition:
Always returns the same ...
19
votes
2answers
10k views
When to use [Pure] on a constructor?
I'm learning about code contracts in .NET, and I'm trying to understand the idea of pure constructors. The code contracts documentation states:
All methods that are called within a contract must be ...
9
votes
4answers
5k views
Is this method pure?
I have the following extension method:
public static IEnumerable<T> Apply<T>(
[NotNull] this IEnumerable<T> source,
[NotNull] Action<T> action)
...
11
votes
5answers
3k views
Compute if a function is pure
As per Wikipedia:
In computer programming, a function may be described as pure if both these statements about the function hold:
The function always evaluates the same result value given the same ...
