Anonymous functions¶
Sometimes, especially when using higher-order functions, it is convenient to write down a function without having to give it a name. This can be done using a so-called “lambda expression”. In its simplest form, this looks like
\ <var> . <expression>
where <var>
stands for any variable name, and <expression>
stands
for any expression, which is allowed to use the
variable. This represents a function which takes
<var>
as input, and returns <expression>
as output.
λ
(U+033B, GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMBDA) can also be used in place of
\
(a backslash is used because it looks kind of like λ
).
For example, \n. 3n+1
is the function which returns one more than
three times its input.
Disco> (\n. 3n+1)(6)
19
The thing after the lambda or backslash can actually be any pattern, not just a variable. For example,
\(x,y). x + 2y
is the function which takes a pair of numbers as input and returns the sum of the first number and twice the second number.
The variable after the lambda can optionally be annotated with its type, as in
\ <var> : <type> . <expression>
. For example,\x:Z. x + 5
is the function of type
Z -> Z
which returns 5 more than its input. Without the type annotation, Disco would infer\x. x + 5
to have typeN -> N
instead.