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authorAndrew M. Kuchling <amk@amk.ca>2007-12-14 22:52:36 +0000
committerAndrew M. Kuchling <amk@amk.ca>2007-12-14 22:52:36 +0000
commit47b8460463d4aea8b2bbf477d9aeb409b97e3a71 (patch)
treee3f42758e99f512e9bc61546e7fe0c9fb1c6e908 /Doc/howto
parentb004e3f2e0f01fcc7313e510b1be576fb3e663f6 (diff)
downloadcpython-47b8460463d4aea8b2bbf477d9aeb409b97e3a71.tar.gz
Bump the version number, and make a few small edits
Diffstat (limited to 'Doc/howto')
-rw-r--r--Doc/howto/functional.rst28
1 files changed, 15 insertions, 13 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/howto/functional.rst b/Doc/howto/functional.rst
index 50d4b04116..b0b43c0373 100644
--- a/Doc/howto/functional.rst
+++ b/Doc/howto/functional.rst
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
********************************
:Author: \A. M. Kuchling
-:Release: 0.30
+:Release: 0.31
(This is a first draft. Please send comments/error reports/suggestions to
amk@amk.ca.)
@@ -47,17 +47,19 @@ Programming languages support decomposing problems in several different ways:
functional languages include the ML family (Standard ML, OCaml, and other
variants) and Haskell.
-The designers of some computer languages have chosen one approach to programming
-that's emphasized. This often makes it difficult to write programs that use a
-different approach. Other languages are multi-paradigm languages that support
-several different approaches. Lisp, C++, and Python are multi-paradigm; you can
-write programs or libraries that are largely procedural, object-oriented, or
-functional in all of these languages. In a large program, different sections
-might be written using different approaches; the GUI might be object-oriented
-while the processing logic is procedural or functional, for example.
+The designers of some computer languages choose to emphasize one
+particular approach to programming. This often makes it difficult to
+write programs that use a different approach. Other languages are
+multi-paradigm languages that support several different approaches.
+Lisp, C++, and Python are multi-paradigm; you can write programs or
+libraries that are largely procedural, object-oriented, or functional
+in all of these languages. In a large program, different sections
+might be written using different approaches; the GUI might be
+object-oriented while the processing logic is procedural or
+functional, for example.
In a functional program, input flows through a set of functions. Each function
-operates on its input and produces some output. Functional style frowns upon
+operates on its input and produces some output. Functional style discourages
functions with side effects that modify internal state or make other changes
that aren't visible in the function's return value. Functions that have no side
effects at all are called **purely functional**. Avoiding side effects means
@@ -614,7 +616,7 @@ Built-in functions
Let's look in more detail at built-in functions often used with iterators.
-Two Python's built-in functions, :func:`map` and :func:`filter`, are somewhat
+Two of Python's built-in functions, :func:`map` and :func:`filter`, are somewhat
obsolete; they duplicate the features of list comprehensions but return actual
lists instead of iterators.
@@ -840,8 +842,8 @@ Fredrik Lundh once suggested the following set of rules for refactoring uses of
4) Convert the lambda to a def statement, using that name.
5) Remove the comment.
-I really like these rules, but you're free to disagree that this lambda-free
-style is better.
+I really like these rules, but you're free to disagree
+about whether this lambda-free style is better.
The itertools module