Re: lambda, ->, haskell, and so on

On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 7:38 AM, Phlip <[e-mail]> wrote:
>> So, you prefer lambda(x) {...} or x => {...} over ->(x){...}, right?
>
> Computer terms should be named after real things.
>
> Terms like pi, x, y, delta, lambda, theta, etc are named after greek letters
> that math professors scribbled on their blackboards during lectures. They
> picked convenient letters, and these stuck - as if they actually described
> circles, coordinates, increments, etc.
>
> Programmers should not abuse jargon in our source code!

I'm not sure I understand your point.

Lambda has a long tradition in math/comp sci of representing a
function, coming from Alonso Church's Lambda calculus.

If you're arguing that lambda has other meanings in other disciplines,
well, there are only so many symbols to go around. It's not uncommon
for such clashes to occur.  For example electrical engineers use j to
represent the square root of -1 because in EE i represents current,
and did so before imaginary numbers gained usage in the analysis of
A.C. circuits.

-- 
Rick DeNatale

My blog on Ruby
http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/