From: jcb@... (MetalOne)
Date: 2002-12-12T08:22:09+09:00
Subject: Re: functional programming "style"

"zesar" <i_wont@tell.you> wrote in message news:<3df78342$0$38812$91cee783@newsreader01.highway.telekom.at>...
> i discovered ruby some weeks ago and i have to say now that i'm through with
> the book of the pragmatic programmers i quite like the language.
> 
> so far i've been coding in c/c++, java and COBOL (that was really painful
> :) )... i guess that's why my code keeps on looking very procedural although
> i'm writing ruby.
> 
> i'm very fascinated by the few examples of functional programming-style i've
> seen so far but i don't quite get the picture on how to "think this way"...
> i mean i DO understand what the examples do and mean but i wouldn't be able
> to write them myself...
> 
> i know there are some other (more) functional languages than ruby but i
> don't have the energy nor the time to learn them. and i just want to get a
> good coding style in ruby...
> 
> the book of the pragmatic programmers is a very good reference but i lack
> some sort of
> think-styleguide-on-functional-programming-for-procedural-programmers or
> something likewise... or is there just some kind of "magic sentence" - a
> "spell" ;-)) that can teach me how to....
> 
> anyway, i'd love to get some tips or some recommendations where to find such
> a guide (hopefully there's a free one, i don't like buying books for i don't
> really have the money - but don't hesitate to recommend a book - better than
> nothing)...
> 
> thank you in advance,
> patrick


Actually, Ruby is an Object-Oriented Language.
Examples of functional languages are LISP and HASKELL.
I am not sure if you want to grasp the Object-Oriented programming
style or
the Functional programming style.  You can use Ruby to write in a
somewhat
functional style if you want to, but Ruby would not be the language to
use to learn functional programming.

You could program in Ruby using a somewhat functional style.