Does Go have lambda expressions or anything similar?
GoLambdaGo Problem Overview
Does Go support lambda expressions or anything similar?
I want to port a library from another language that uses lambda expressions (Ruby).
Go Solutions
Solution 1 - Go
Yes.
Here is an example, copied and pasted carefully:
> package main
>
> import fmt "fmt"
>
> type Stringy func() string
>
> func foo() string{
> return "Stringy function"
> }
>
> func takesAFunction(foo Stringy){
> fmt.Printf("takesAFunction: %v\n", foo())
> }
>
> func returnsAFunction()Stringy{
> return func()string{
> fmt.Printf("Inner stringy function\n");
> return "bar" // have to return a string to be stringy
> }
> }
>
> func main(){
> takesAFunction(foo);
> var f Stringy = returnsAFunction();
> f();
> var baz Stringy = func()string{
> return "anonymous stringy\n"
> };
> fmt.Printf(baz());
> }
Solution 2 - Go
Lambda expressions are also called function literals. Go supports them completely.
See the language spec: http://golang.org/ref/spec#Function_literals
See a code-walk, with examples and a description: http://golang.org/doc/codewalk/functions/
Solution 3 - Go
> Yes
In computer programming, an anonymous function or lambda abstraction (function literal) is a function definition that is not bound to an identifier, and Go supports anonymous functions, which can form closures. Anonymous functions are useful when you want to define a function inline without having to name it.
package main
import "fmt"
func intSeq() func() int {
i := 0
return func() int {
i += 1
return i
}
}
func main() {
nextInt := intSeq()
fmt.Println(nextInt())
fmt.Println(nextInt())
fmt.Println(nextInt())
newInts := intSeq()
fmt.Println(newInts())
}
function intSeq returns another function, which we define anonymously in the body of intSeq. The returned function closes over the variable i to form a closure.
Output
$ go run closures.go
1
2
3
1
Solution 4 - Go
The golang does not seem to make lambda expressions, but you can use a literal anonymous function, I wrote some examples when I was studying comparing the equivalent in JS, I hope it helps !!
no args return string:
func() string {
return "some String Value"
}
//Js similar: () => 'some String Value'
with string args and return string
func(arg string) string {
return "some String" + arg
}
//Js similar: (arg) => "some String Value" + arg
no arguments and no returns (void)
func() {
fmt.Println("Some String Value")
}
//Js similar: () => {console.log("Some String Value")}
with Arguments and no returns (void)
func(arg string) {
fmt.Println("Some String " + arg)
}
//Js: (arg) => {console.log("Some String Value" + arg)}
Solution 5 - Go
An example that hasn't been provided yet that I was looking for is to assign values directly to variable/s from an anonymous function e.g.
test1, test2 := func() (string, string) {
x := []string{"hello", "world"}
return x[0], x[1]
}()
Note: you require brackets ()
at the end of the function to execute it and return the values otherwise only the function is returned and produces an assignment mismatch: 2 variable but 1 values
error.
Solution 6 - Go
Here is a 'curried function' example. However the syntax seems unclear, relative to the lambda function syntax in other languages such as Swift, C#, etc.
func main() int {
var f func(string) func(string) int
f = func(_x1 string) func(string) int { return func(_x2 string) int { return strings.Compare(_x1,_x2) } }
return ((f)("b"))("a")
}
Solution 7 - Go
Yes, since it is a fully functional language, but has no fat arrow (=>) or thin arrow (->) as the usual lambda sign, and uses the func keyword for the sake of clarity and simplicity.