From: Gary Wright <gwtmp01@...>
Date: 2009-01-13T14:06:44+09:00
Subject: Re: functional programming


On Jan 12, 2009, at 11:22 PM, Mike Gold wrote:
> So a functional language is one tailed for programming in this manner:
> using higher-order functions, reaching out with The Force.  It is
> awkward in Ruby, but not in functional languages which were designed  
> for
> it.

And I suspect that programming in an object oriented manner is probably
awkward in a language designed for the functional approach.

I think it is worthwhile understanding different programming styles but
working against the grain of a language seems like a bad idea to me.

Your specific suggestion that 'name()' could be syntactic sugar for
Proc#call introduces an ambiguity in the language that I find  
disconcerting.

	a = 0
	b = Proc.new { rand }

	a    # variable reference
	a() # method invocation (self.a)

	b        # variable reference
         b.call  # block invocation via Proc#call
         b()     #  method invocation (self.b)? or disguised Proc#call?


Gary Wright