functional programming

[Tim Peters]

[Michal Wallace]
>   That Software Development Magazine article had a sidebar which
> mentions that python supports functional programming. I know what
> functional programming IS, and I can see how python supports it, but
> I'm wondering if anyone has any examples of actually putting this
> to use?

Within the last few days, Denys Duchier posted some wonderfully functional
functional Python code, in msg

    Continuations Made Simple (hopefully) and Illustrated

Look it up.  It proves two things (although neither has been in doubt for a
decade <wink>):

1. Functional styles are possible in Python.
2. Functional styles are painful in Python.

That is, Python wasn't designed to support programming in these styles, but
is flexible enough that you can force it to work.  Python was designed to
support a variety of OO & "imperative procedural" styles instead.

the-odd-thing-about-fighting-a-language-is-that-languages-
    never-fight-back-ly y'rs  - tim