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Functional languages generally support first-class functions, which can be passed as callbacks to other functions, stored as data or returned from functions. Many languages, including Perl, Python, Ruby , Smalltalk , C++ (11+), C# and VB.NET (new versions) and most functional languages, support lambda expressions , unnamed functions with inline ...
A foreign function interface (FFI) is a mechanism by which a program written in one programming language can call routines or make use of services written or compiled in another one. An FFI is often used in contexts where calls are made into a binary dynamic-link library .
In Python, functions are first-class objects that can be created and passed around dynamically. Python's limited support for anonymous functions is the lambda construct. An example is the anonymous function which squares its input, called with the argument of 5:
A built-in function, or builtin function, or intrinsic function, is a function for which the compiler generates code at compile time or provides in a way other than for other functions. [23] A built-in function does not need to be defined like other functions since it is built in to the programming language. [24]
Programmers frequently apply functions to results of other functions, and almost all programming languages allow it. In some cases, the composition of functions is interesting as a function in its own right, to be used later. Such a function can always be defined but languages with first-class functions make it easier.
As a more general class of examples, an algorithm on a tree can be decomposed into its behavior on a value and its behavior on children, and can be split up into two mutually recursive functions, one specifying the behavior on a tree, calling the forest function for the forest of children, and one specifying the behavior on a forest, calling ...
Function overloading is usually associated with statically-typed programming languages that enforce type checking in function calls. An overloaded function is a set of different functions that are callable with the same name. For any particular call, the compiler determines which overloaded function to use and resolves this at compile time ...
Message passing is a technique for invoking behavior (i.e., running a program) on a computer. In contrast to the traditional technique of calling a program by name, message passing uses an object model to distinguish the general function from the specific implementations.