Would Anonymous Functions Help in Learning Programming/Python?

[Cristian]

On Sep 21, 3:44 pm, Ron Adam <r... at ronadam.com> wrote:

> I think key may be to discuss names and name binding with your friend.  How
> a name is not the object it self, like a variable is in other languages.
> For example show him how an object can have more than one name.  And discus
> how names can be bound to nearly anything, including classes and functions.

I could discuss name binding but it would be great if Python said this
itself. After all, you can even bind a module with the foo = bar
syntax by using __import__ function. If function definitions followed
the same pattern, I think a beginner would subconsciously (maybe even
consciously) realize that function names are just like everything
else. Actually, this would be helpful for many people. If you come
from a language like Java you're used to thinking of attributes and
methods as living in different namespaces. I think a new syntax will
encourage seasoned programmers think in a more Pythonic way.

Python has done a very good job in easing people into programming. My
friend doesn't come to me very often because the syntax is clear and
simple and the builtin datatypes allow you to do so much. My goal is
that I would never have to explain to him about name binding; that
he'd pick it up by learning the language on his own. He's learned
lists, dictionaries and even some OOP without me. I don't think name
binding would be a stretch.

> You could also discus factory functions with him.  Once he gets that a
> function can return another function, then it won't be so much of a leap
> for a function to take a function as an argument.

I think this isn't the most intuitive way of approaching first order
functions. It's true that if a function can return another function
then a function must be first order (i.e., it's just like any other
variable), but that seems almost backwards to me. I think it would
make more sense to have beginners _know_ that functions are like all
other variables and can therefore be passed by other functions or
returned by other functions. That I think would be better accomplished
if they define functions the same way you would define other variables
that you know can be passed and returned.