On Tue, Feb 4, 2020 at 10:04 AM Ben Wilson wrote:
> > The code Function.constant(c) is much more expressive and descriptive
> than fn _ -> c end.
>
> To be clear, if this could work without macros, I'd be inclined to agree,
> although I recognize that there may be some who do not. My issue
I’d argue back that this particular pattern, where you want a list of fixed
length with the same value, is much better served by `List.duplicate/2`.
I think in general, higher order combinator functions like identity, const,
flip, and friends are usually used to facilitate the point-free style
Thanks for the discussion, all. I enjoy being here.
*Summary: I will bow out of this conversation after this one last attempt.
Feel free to skip it. *
I will say that I would use this function frequently in my teaching and in
my day-to-day code if I had it. I think it describes a concept that is
> The code Function.constant(c) is much more expressive and descriptive
than fn _ -> c end.
To be clear, if this could work without macros, I'd be inclined to agree,
although I recognize that there may be some who do not. My issue personally
is that there simply isn't any function you can
Ben,
That is how const is used in Haskell. Although without currying I don’t see how
it is useful. I’m waiting to see an example that drives it home. I agree with
Bruce about naming concepts but I don’t see the concept as useful in Elixir.
Bruce, do you have a code sample using the idea?
Amos
I agree with Michal. Additionally, I'm not clear how `const/1` could be
used in Bruce's example at all.
To elaborate, `fn -> foo() end` and `const(foo())` cannot be equivalent
when `const/1` is merely a function. This becomes readily apparent when
`foo()` is side effects or side causes. In
Addendum: I re-read the proposal because the const/1 vs const/2 thing
confused me, and I'm seeing both in play there. The spec is arity 2, the
example right after though is arity 1, and the Enum example is arity 2 but
without a constant value. The Enum example perhaps makes the most sense,
