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[Caml-list] C++ STL and template features compared with OCaml parametric polymorphism and OO features
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Date: | 2004-09-27 (13:54) |
From: | Brian Hurt <bhurt@s...> |
Subject: | Re: [Caml-list] C++ STL and template features compared with OCaml parametric polymorphism and OO features |
On Mon, 27 Sep 2004, Jon Harrop wrote: > I think we are, because I think iterators are only really useful in an > imperative setting. Hence C++ programmers use them extensively but OCaml > programmers do not. Folds are simply not feasible in C++. I'm sure Stepanov > would have reinvented them if they had been... ;-) Two comments: First, iterators are usefull in a functional setting, for two reasons. The first is they allow lazy application of transformations. It's easy to define a map on an interator to do the transforms as the values get pulled out. And second, they provide a generic way to plug data structures together. All you need to write is a to_iterator and from_iterator for each data structure, and then all data structures can talk to each other. Second, you can do fold, map, iter, etc. in C++- it's just a pain. To emulate HOFs you define a new class with single virtual member function. The virtual member function then becomes your HOF. Of course, 1 line of Ocaml code has just become a dozen lines of C++, but that doesn't mean it can't be done... -- "Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea -- massive, difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind-boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it." - Gene Spafford Brian ------------------- To unsubscribe, mail caml-list-request@inria.fr Archives: http://caml.inria.fr Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs FAQ: http://caml.inria.fr/FAQ/ Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners