map/filter/reduce/lambda opinions and background unscientific mini-survey

[mcherm at gmail.com]

Steven D'Aprano writes:
> Lambda is no more an obscure name than "function", "decorator", "closure",
> "class", or "module". The first time you come across it, you don't know
> what it means. Then you learn what it means, and then you know.

I believe you've made two errors here. First of all, "lambda" is part
of the Python language, while "function", "decorator", "closure", and
"module" are not. The fact that some words which are NOT part of the
Python language are obscure has no bearing whatsoever on "lambda". The
obnubilation created by this comparison is an obscure word also, but,
it isn't relevent to the Python language.

The second error is that I believe most english speakers COULD provide
a definition for the fairly common words "function", "class", and
"decorator". The exact meaning of "class" might not be what they expect
at first, but exposure to any object oriented language would make the
concept quickly familiar. But "lambda" has a very clear meaning... it's
a letter of the greek alphabet. The connection between that letter and
anonymous functions is tenuous at best, and fails the test of making
Python read like "executable pseudocode".

-- Michael Chermside