Quoth Magnus Therning, nevermore, > I'm not sure how a "functional" recipe would look, maybe something like > this: > > White_sauce is a combination of ... . > > Chopped_onions is onions cut into small pieces. > > White_sauce_with_chopped_onions is the combination of white_sauce and > chopped_onions.
The functional approach > whitesauce = foldl stir base milks > where base = flour + (heat butter) compared with the imperative > whitesauce > base = flour + heat(butter); > while (milks > 0) > stir(base, milk); > milks--; I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that, like Feynman's example of how people count in their heads, both of these explanations are accurate. If I were to explain the process to someone it would be in the imperative style: literally "giving commands", which is what a recipe is. But in my mind I imagine it as the gradual process of stirring milk into a base, which is far more adequately described in the functional style. The question is --- how would an expert describe such a process? Would a professional chef give instructions in the functional or imperative style? I think that is relevant, since the approach to the problem may change depending on proficiency. We may *learn* in the imperative style but *think* in the functional. Cheers, Dougal. _______________________________________________ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
