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67 lines
2.0 KiB
Markdown
67 lines
2.0 KiB
Markdown
# Functional Usage of Rust
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Rust is an imperative language, but it follows many functional programming paradigms.
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One of the biggest hurdles to understanding functional programs when coming from an imperative background is the shift in thinking.
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Imperative programs describe __how__ to do something, whereas declarative programs describe __what__ to do.
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Let's sum the numbers from 1 to 10 to show this.
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## Imperative
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```rust
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let mut sum = 0;
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for i in 1..11 {
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sum += i;
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}
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println!("{}", sum);
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```
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With imperative programs, we have to play compiler to see what is happening.
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Here, we start with a `sum` of `0`.
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Next, we iterate through the range from 1 to 10.
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Each time through the loop, we add the corresponding value in the range.
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Then we print it out.
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| `i` | `sum` |
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|:---:|:-----:|
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| 1 | 1 |
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| 2 | 3 |
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| 3 | 6 |
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| 4 | 10 |
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| 5 | 15 |
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| 6 | 21 |
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| 7 | 28 |
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| 8 | 36 |
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| 9 | 45 |
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| 10 | 55 |
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This is how most of us start out programming. We learn that a program is a set of steps.
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## Declarative
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```rust
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println!("{}", (1..11).fold(0, |a, b| a + b));
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```
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Whoa! This is really different! What's going on here? Remember that with declarative programs
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we are describing __what__ to do, rather than __how__ to do it.
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`fold` is a function that [composes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_composition) functions. The name is a convention from Haskell.
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Here, we are composing functions of addition (this closure: `|a, b| a + b)`) with a range from 1 to 10.
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The `0` is the starting point, so `a` is `0` at first.
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`b` is the first element of the range, `1`. `0 + 1 = 1` is the result.
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So now we `fold` again, with `a = 1`, `b = 2` and so `1 + 2 = 3` is the next result.
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This process continues until we get to the last element in the range, `10`.
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| `a` | `b` | result |
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|:---:|:---:|:------:|
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| 0 | 1 | 1 |
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| 1 | 2 | 3 |
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| 3 | 3 | 6 |
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| 6 | 4 | 10 |
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| 10 | 5 | 15 |
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| 15 | 6 | 21 |
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| 21 | 7 | 28 |
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| 28 | 8 | 36 |
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| 36 | 9 | 45 |
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| 45 | 10 | 55 |
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