Securing a future for anonymous functions in Python

[Alan Gauld]

On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 21:02:46 -0600, Doug Holton <a at b.c> wrote:
> used, but there are people who do not like "lambda":
> http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/view/419#comment-3069
> The word "lambda" is meaningless to most people.  Of course so is "def", 
> which might be why Guido van Robot changed it to "define": 
> http://gvr.sourceforge.net/screen_shots/

The unfamiliar argument doesn't work for me. After all most
people are unfamiliar with complex numbers (or imaginary) numbers
but python still provides a complex number type. Just because the
name is unfamiliar to some doesn't mean we shouldn't use the
term if its the correct one for the concept.

Hopefully anyone who wants to use anonymous functions will know
that such are called lambdas and hopefully will have studied
lambda calculus to at least some level - certainly CS majors and
software engineering types should have...

> Python is easier for beginners to learn than other mainstream 
> programming languages 

Absolutely, but it has to decide (and soon I think) how important
that role is in the development of the language. Many of the more
recent features are beginner hostile - slots, properties, meta
classes, decorators etc... So is Python going to consciously try
to remain beginner friendly (which it remains by simply ignoring
the newer fatures!) or deliberately go for the "fully featured"
general purpose audience?

> Yes, I agree, and either keep the "lambda" keyword or else reuse the 
> "def" keyword for anonymous methods.  See this page Steven Bethard 
> created: http://www.python.org/moin/AlternateLambdaSyntax

I agree, I'm much more concerned about the idea of losing
anonymous functions (aka lambdas) than about losing the name
lambda, its just that the name is so descriptive of what it does!
( In fact it was seeing the name lambda appearing in a Lisp
programme I was reading that got me started in Lambda calculus
many years ago...)

> By the way, you've done great work with your learning to program site 
> and all the help you've given on the python-tutor list:

Aw shucks! Thanks ;-)

Alan G.
Author of the Learn to Program website
http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld