Functional programming

Functional Programming
ExperTalks 2015-09-11
Leena Bora, Equal Experts
Christian Hujer, Nelkinda Software Craft

What are the problems?
No (known) medium in space.
No chemicals in space (i.e. no oxygen).
Many more.
One of the biggest:
Speed of Light = speed limit

Can we “break” the speed limit?
Sci-Fi authors: “Yes” Scientists: “No!”

Miguel Alcubierre from Mexico …

… and then had the idea for this:
ds2 = -(α2 - βi βi) dt2 + 2βi dxi dt + γij dxidxj
which I don’t really understand,
but if it works...

Further Information
Alcubierre Drive (Wikipedia)
Miguel Alcubierre (Wikipedia)
“The warp drive: hyper-fast travel within
general relativity” - Miguel Alcubierre, 1994
Warp Drive (Wikipedia)
RF resonant cavity thruster (Wikipedia)

History of

1903 - 1995
1930s
𝜆 calculus
1936
untyped 𝜆 calculus
1940
simple typed 𝜆 calculus
Alonzo Church: Lambda-Calculus

John McCarthy: Lisp
1927 - 2011
1958
Lisp
1959
Garbage Collection
1961
Utility Computing
(Cloud!)
1971
Turing Award

John Backus
1924 - 2007
1957
FORTRAN
1960
Backus-Naur-Form
1977
Turing Award, FP
“Can Programming be
Liberated from the von
Neumann Style?”

Milestones
1936 Lambda Calculus (Church & Rosser)
1958 Lisp (McCarthy)
1963 Algol 60 (Naur et al)
1966 ISWIM (Landin)
1969 NPL, ML, HOPE
1973 SASL
1986 Miranda
1992 Haskell
2007 Clojure
2013 Java 8

Moore’s Law (1965)
Gordon E. Moore
●*1929
●Co-founder of Intel
~ “Number of
transistors doubles
every 18 months”
⇒ More GHz
But for how long?

Amdahl’s Law (1967)
Gene Amdahl
●*1922
●IBM Mainframes
●Amdahl
Corporation

Amdahl’s Law
Given
●𝑛 ∊ ℕ, the number of threads of execution
●B ∊ [0, 1], strictly serial fraction of algorithm
Time T(𝑛) it takes to finish with n threads is
T(𝑛) = T(1)(B + 1/𝑛 (1 − B))
Therefore, the theoretical speedup S(𝑛) is
S(𝑛) = T(1) / T(𝑛) = 1 / (B + 1/𝑛 (1 - B))

Gustafson’s Law
John Gustafson
●*1955
●HPC
●Computer Clusters

Gustafson’s Law
Given a the sequential time, b the parallel time,
P the number of processors,
a + b single thread time
a + P b sequential time
(a + P b) / (a + b) speedup
α = a / (a + b)
sequential fraction S(P):
S(P) = α + P (1 − α) = P − α (P − 1)

To run fast
Parallelism
Avoid Race conditions

Alonzo Church (Wikipedia)
John McCarthy (Wikipedia)
John Backus (Wikipedia)
Functional Programming History (Wikipedia)
Some History of Functional Programming Languages (D.
A. Turner)
Gordon Moore (Wikipedia)
Moore’s Law (Wikipedia)
Gene Amdahl (Wikipedia)
Amdahl’s Law (Wikipedia)
John Gustafson (Wikipedia)
Gustafson’s Law (Wikipedia)
History of Functional Programming
References

Programming Paradigm
It is all about “functions”
What is Functional Programming?

f(x) = 2x + 3
f(2) = 4 + 3 = 7
The value of x will never change inside a mathematical
function.
Same input, same output - all the time!
Call f() multiple times, without any side-effects.
We don’t have to recalculate f(2), replace occurrence of
f(2) with 7 (Referential Transparency)

Pure Function
public int calculate(int x) {
return (2 * x) + 3;
}
calculate(2) = 7
calculate(2) = 7

public class Account {
int balance;
public Account(int balance) {
this.balance = balance;
}
public int credit(int amount) {
balance = balance + amount;
return balance;
}
}
Account account = new Account(100);
account.credit(500); // → balance == 600

class Account {
final int balance;
}
public Account credit(int amount) {
return new Account(balance + amount);
}
}
Account account = new Account(100)
Account currentAccountState = account.credit(500)
===> currentAccountState(600)
Account newAccountState = currentAccountState.credit(500)
===> newAccountState(1100)
account.credit(500)
===> currentAccount(600)

Modifying global variable / data structure
Modifying input value
Throwing an exception
Read / Write (File, Console, Database)
Communication with External System
Side Effects

Thin layer of impure functions
(DB, I/O, exceptions)
Pure functions at the core

Why Pure Functions?
No Side-effects
A function f is said to be a “pure function” if
f(x) is “referentially transparent”
Memoization
Execution Order can be rearranged (!)
Local Reasoning
Parallel Execution
public int square (int number) {
return number * number;
}

Functional Programming is so called
because a program consists of
“pure functions” & “functions”

Where FP and OOP meet for the DIP
Higher-Order Functions

No function as argument,
and no function as return
First-Order vs Higher-Order
Function as argument,
or function as return
(or both)

Workarounds if unavailable
Function Pointer Types
Function Pointers
One-Element Interfaces
Objects

1 #include <stdlib.h> // qsort
2 #include <string.h> // strcmp
3
4 static int strptrcmp(const void *l1, const void *l2) {
5 return strcmp(*(const char **)l1, *(const char **)l2);
6 }
7
8 static char **lines;
9 static size_t numberOfLines;
10
11 qsort(lines, numberOfLines, sizeof(char *), strptrcmp);
Higher-Order Functions in C
Example: qsort()

1 enum AccountComparator implements Comparator<Account> {
2 INSTANCE;
3 public int compare(Account a1, Account a2) {
4 return Integer.compare(a1.balance, a2.balance);
5 }
6 }
7
8 List<Account> accounts = …;
9 accounts.sort(AccountComparator.INSTANCE);
Higher-Order Functions in Java
Example: List.sort()

Method References
Lambda Expressions
Syntactic sugar for higher-order functions.
Underneath: generated anonymous classes.
Improvements in Java 8

1 class Account {
2 int balance;
3 Account(int balance) { this.balance = balance; }
4 public static final Comparator<Account> BY_BALANCE =
5 new Comparator<Account>() {
6 public int compare(Account a1, Account a2) {
7 return compare(a1.balance, a2.balance);
8 }
9 };
10 }
11
12 List<Account> accounts;
13 accounts.sort(BY_BALANCE);
Java 5 Anonymous Class

1 class Account {
2 int balance;
5
6 ( a1, a2) -> {
7 return compare(a1.balance, a2.balance);
8 }
9 ;
10 }
11
Java 8 Block Lambda

1 class Account {
2 int balance;
5
6 ( a1, a2) ->
7 compare(a1.balance, a2.balance)
8
9 ;
10 }
11
Java 8 Expression Lambda

1 class Account {
2 int balance;
5 (a1, a2) -> compare(a1.balance, a2.balance);
6 }
7

1 final JFrame frame = new JFrame("Hello");
2 final JButton button = new JButton("Click me!");
3 button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
4 @Override
5 public void actionPerformed(final ActionEvent e) {
6 showMessageDialog(frame, "Hello, world!");
7 }
8 });
9 frame.add(b);
10 frame.pack();
11 frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
12 frame.setVisible(true);
Single Method Callback
Java 5 Anonymous Class

1 final JFrame frame = new JFrame("Hello");
2 final JButton button = new JButton("Click me!");
3 button.addActionListener(e ->
4
5
6 showMessageDialog(frame, "Hello, world!")
7
8 );
9 frame.add(b);
10 frame.pack();
11 frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
12 frame.setVisible(true);
Single Method Callback

Java 8 Instance Method References
1 public class Application {
2 Application() {
3 final JMenuItem open = new JMenuItem("Open...");
4 final JMenuItem save = new JMenuItem("Save");
5 open.addActionListener(this::open);
6 save.addActionListener(this::save);
7 }
8 private void open(final ActionEvent e) {
9 // ...
10 }
11 private void save(final ActionEvent e) {
12 // ...
13 }
14 }

Java 8 Stream.forEach()
1 import java.io.*;
2 import static java.lang.System.*;
3
4 public class Sort {
5 private static BufferedReader getIn() {
6 return new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(in));
7 }
8 public static void main(final String... args) throws
IOException {
9 try (final BufferedReader in = getIn()) {
10 in.lines().sorted().forEach(out::println);
11 }
12 }
13 }

What if you want to reuse A without B?
Dependency Inversion Principle
Component A Component B

Sort Article

Sort ArticleComparable

Higher Order Functions
Are a form of polymorphism
Serve the Dependency Inversion Principle
Decouple software entities
Make software entities reusable

Higher-Order Functions and OO
Higher-Order Functions can always be
expressed using Objects.
Not every expression using Objects is also a
Higher-Order Function.
I recommend to avoid calling methods that
have Methods with side-effects as
parameters or return values “Higher-Order
Functions”.

Higher-Order Functions
References
Higher-order function (Wikipedia)
How is dependency inversion related to
higher-order functions? (StackExchange)

Find Even Numbers
Double it
Sum it up
public int calculate() {
int[] numbers = {1, 5, 10, 9, 12};
List<Integer> doubledEvenNumbers = new ArrayList<>();
for (int number : numbers)
if (number % 2 == 0)
doubleEvenNumbers.add(num * 2);
int total = 0;
for (int even : doubleEvenNumbers)
total = total + even;
return total;
}
Imperative Style

Declarative Style
val list = List(1, 5, 10, 9, 12)
val total = list.filter( number => number % 2 == 0)
.map ( evenNumber => evenNumber * 2)
.sum

Imperative Paradigm
How to do it
Mutability
Use locking / synchronization for thread safety
Side effects
null values

Declarative Paradigm
What to do
Immutability
No loops (recursion)

Get popcorn, lean back, relax and enjoy
If you know
Git internals

Now listen carefully and learn something
about Git at the same time!
If you do not know
Git internals

“All fields final” - even in data structures.
Previous version is preserved.
Modifying data structures actually creates
copies of modified parts, references of
unmodified parts.
Persistent Data Structure

Three Levels of Persistence
1.Partially Persistent
Query all versions
Update only latest version
2.Fully Persistent
Query all versions
Update all versions
3.Confluently Persistent
Combinators -> Directed Acyclic Graph

Immutable (Persistent) Object
1 class Point {
2 final int x;
3 final int y;
4 Point(final int x, final int y) {
5 this.x = x;
6 this.y = y;
7 }
8 }

Persistent Data Structures: List
1 public class ListNode<T> {
2 public final ListNode<T> next;
3 public final T data;
4 public ListNode(final T data) { this(null, data); }
5 public ListNode(final ListNode<T> next, final T data) {
6 this.next = next;
7 this.data = data;
8 }
9 }

fedcba

fedcba
c’b’a’

Persistent Data Structures: Tree
1 public class TreeNode<T> {
2 public final TreeNode<T> left;
3 public final TreeNode<T> right;
4 public final T data;
5 public TreeNode(final T data) {this(null, null, data);}
6 TreeNode(TreeNode<T> left, TreeNode<T> right, T data) {
7 this.left = left;
8 this.right = right;
9 this.data = data;
10 }
11 }

Persistent data structure (Wikipedia)
Data Structures (Clojure)
Persistent Data Structures
References

Evaluation Strategies
Strict Evaluation
Non-strict Evaluation

int x = 5 * 3;
System.out.println(x);
int x = product(2);
public int product(int num) {
System.out.println("product method");
return num * 3;
}
product method
6

Evaluate immediately at the time of
assignment
Call By Value
Call By Reference
Strict Evaluation

multiply(true, 10 / 0);
int multiply(boolean flag, int i) {
if (flag)
return 100;
else
return i * 5;
}
// → Division by zero

Function parameter assignment
Variable assignment
2 types of assignments

val result = product(true, 10/0)
println(result)
def product(flag: => Boolean, num: => Int) = {
if (flag)
100
else
5 * num
}
// → 100

Call By Name (Function Parameters)
Call By Need (Variables)
Call By Need = Lazy Evaluation
Non Strict Evaluation

public class Singleton {
private static Singleton instance = null;
private Singleton() {}
public static Singleton getInstance() {
if (instance == null) {
System.out.println("Create new for the first time.");
instance = new Singleton();
}
return instance;
}
public static void main(final String... args) {
Singleton.getInstance();
Singleton.getInstance();
}
}

lazy val result = func("Hello")
println("333")
println(result)
println(result)
def func(str: String) = {
println("Inside func")
str + ", World!"
}
333
Inside func
Hello, World!
Hello, World!

Avoids unnecessary computation
→ More Performance
Evaluates only once
Infinite Data Structures (Streams)
Why Lazy Evaluation?

Lazy Description
of Odd Numbers
lazy 1 lazy 3 lazy 5 lazy 7 lazy 9 So on …
1 3 5 7 9 So on …

Avoids unnecessary computation
Infinite Data Structures (Streams)
Modularity
Why Lazy Evaluation?

Haskell
By default Non Strict Evaluation

𝑓 : ℕ0 × ℕ0 → ℕ0
𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑥 + 𝑦
Defined ∀ 𝑥: 𝑥 ∊ ℕ0
⇒ Total Function
Partial Functions in Mathematics
typedef uint32_t u32;
u32 f(u32 x, u32 y)
{
return x + y;
}

𝑓 : ℕ0 × ℕ0 → ℕ0
𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑥 + 𝑦
Defined ∀ 𝑥: 𝑥 ∊ ℕ0
⇒ Total Function
𝑓 : ℕ0 × ℕ0 → ℕ0
𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑥 − 𝑦
Only when 𝑥 ≥ 𝑦
⇒ Partial Function
Partial Functions in Mathematics
typedef uint32_t u32;
u32 f(u32 x, u32 y)
{
return x + y;
}
u32 f(u32 x, u32 y)
{
return x - y;
}

Partial Functions in Scala
val isEven: PartialFunction[Int, String] = {
case x if x % 2 == 0 => x + "is even"
}
val isOdd: PartialFunction[Int, String] = {
case x if x % 2 == 1 => x + "is odd"
}
val sample = 1 to 10
val evenNumbers = sample collect isEven
val numbers = sample map (isEven orElse isOdd)

Partial Functions
“You almost never have an excuse for writing
a partial function!” - Haskell Wiki

Partial Functions
References
Partial Function (Wikipedia)
Partial Functions (Haskell Wiki)
PartialFunction (Scala API)

float x, y, z;
y = g(x);
z = f(y);
z = f(g(x));

“Function Composition” is applying one function to the
results of another.
Haskell
foo = f . g
Scala
val add = (x: Int) => x + 10
val subtract = (x: Int) => x - 5
List(10, 20, 30).map(add and Then subtract)
First Class Composition

“Currying is similar to the process of calculating
a function of multiple variables for some given
values on paper.” - Wikipedia
Currying

Currying for the poor:
Method Overloading
class Complex {
final double real;
final double imaginary;
Complex(double real, double imaginary) {
this.real = real;
this.imaginary = imaginary;
}
static Complex real(double real) {
return new Complex(real, 0);
}
}

Formal Definition of Currying
Given a function f of type f : (X × Y) → Z,
currying it makes a function
curry(f): X → (Y → Z)
That is, curry(f) takes an argument of type X
and returns a function of type Y → Z.

Currying in Scala
def add(x: Int, y: Int) = x + y
add(1, 2) // 3
add(7, 3) // 10
def add(x: Int)(y: Int) = x + y
add(1)(2) // 3
add(7)(3) // 10

Currying existing Functions
def add(x: Int, y: Int) = x + y
val addCurried = Function.curried(add _)
add(1, 2) // 3
addCurried(1)(2) // 3

Currying (Wikipedia)
Function Currying in Scala (Code Commit)
Currying
References

Images used may be subject to copyright. Use
in this presentation on the basis of fair use
for the purpose of teaching and education.
References

Backup Slides follow
Not part of the presentation

Reducing the Transformation Priority
Premise for Functional Programming
and TPP

Original
{} → nil
nil → constant
constant → constant+
constant → scalar
statement → statements
unconditional → if
scalar → array
array → container
statement → recursion
if → while
expression → function
variable → assignment
Transformation Priority Premise
Functional
{} → nil
nil → constant
constant → constant+
n/a
statement → statements
unconditional → if
scalar → list
n/a
statement → recursion
n/a (use recursion)
expression → function
n/a

main(Argv) :- echo(Argv).
echo([]) :- nl.
echo([Last]) :- write(Last), echo([]).
echo([H|T]) :- write(H), write(' '), echo(T).
Echo in Prolog

qsort :: (Ord a) => [a] -> [a]
qsort [] = []
qsort (x:xs) =
let left = qsort [a | a <- xs, a <= x]
right = qsort [a | a <- xs, a > x]
in left ++ [x] ++ right
--or even shorter
qsort (x:xs) =
qsort [a | a <- xs, a <= x]
++ [x] ++
qsort [a | a <- xs, a > x]
Quicksort in Haskell

Quicksort in Perl 5
sub qsort {
return @_ if @_ < 2;
my $p = splice @_, int rand @_, 1;
qsort(grep$_<$p,@_), $p,
qsort(grep$_>=$p,@_);
}

Quicksort in Scala
def qsort[T](list: List[T])(implicit ev1: T =>
Ordered[T]): List[T] = list match {
case Nil => Nil
case p :: xs =>
val (lesser, greater) = xs partition (_ <=
p)
qsort(lesser) ++ List(p) ++ qsort(greater)
}

f(x) = 2x2 - 2x + 3
f(4) = 2*4*4 - 2*4 + 3 = 32 - 14 + 3 = 27
The value of x will never change inside a mathematical
function.
Same input, same output - all the time!
Call f() multiple times, without any side-effects.
We don’t have to recalculate f(4), replace occurrence of
f(4) with 27 (Referential Transparency)

int balance;
}
public int credit(int amount) {
return balance += amount;
}
}

final int balance;
}
public Account credit(int amount) {
return new Account(balance + amount);
}
}
Account currentAccountState = account.credit(500);
Account newAccountState = currentAccountState.credit(500);
account.credit(500); // → currentAccount(600)

int[] numbers = {1, 5, 10, 9, 12};
List<Integer> doubledEvenNumbers = new ArrayList<>();
int total = c;
for (int number : numbers)
if (number % 2 == 0)
total += num * 2;
return total;
}
Imperative Style

Declarative Style
return IntStream.of(1, 5, 10, 9, 12)
.filter(number -> number % 2 == 0)
.map(number -> number * 2)
.sum();
}

Declarative Style
def calculate() {
List(1, 5, 10, 9, 12)
.filter(number => number % 2 == 0)
.map(number => number * 2)
.sum
}

public int product(int num) {
System.out.println("product method");
return num * 3;
}
int x = 5 * 3;
x = product(2);
15
product method
6

int multiply(boolean flag, int i) {
if (flag)
return 100;
else
return i * 5;
}
System.out.println(multiply(true, 10 / 0));
// → Division by zero

private Singleton() {
System.out.println("Create new for the first time.");
}
public static Singleton getInstance() {
return LazyHolder.INSTANCE;
}
private static class LazyHolder {
private static final Singleton INSTANCE = new
Singleton();
}
}

public static final Singleton
INSTANCE = new Singleton();
System.out.println("Init");
}
}

public enum Singleton {
INSTANCE;
System.out.println("Init");
}
}

Functional programming

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