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Examples of anonymous functions
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<p>In <a href="/facts/Computer_programming/QmSsFnu0">computer programming</a>, an <a href="/facts/Anonymous_function/2vdyE4zL">anonymous function</a> (function literal, expression or block) is a <a href="/facts/Function_(computer_science)/9vFJrg0A">function</a> definition that is not <a href="/facts/Name_binding/HbBx9mpM">bound</a> to an <a href="/facts/Name_(computer_science)/pPaQPLhj">identifier</a>. Anonymous functions are often arguments being passed to <a href="/facts/Higher-order_function/VjnjGbpt">higher-order functions</a> or used for constructing the result of a higher-order function that needs to return a function. If the function is only used once, or a limited number of times, an anonymous function may be syntactically lighter than using a named function. Anonymous functions are ubiquitous in <a href="/facts/Functional_programming_language/cdxqPEIM">functional programming languages</a> and other languages with <a href="/facts/First-class_function/dtMzp81k">first-class functions</a>, where they fulfil the same role for the <a href="/facts/Function_type/CmbusBzk">function type</a> as <a href="/facts/Literal_(computer_programming)/5mlRwegs">literals</a> do for other <a href="/facts/Data_type/fcx5hgVL">data types</a>. </p><p>Anonymous functions originate in the work of <a href="/facts/Alonzo_Church/b7D52Itv">Alonzo Church</a> in his invention of the <a href="/facts/Lambda_calculus/DaD3RuQ4">lambda calculus</a>, in which all functions are anonymous, in 1936, before electronic computers. In several programming languages, anonymous functions are introduced using the keyword <i>lambda</i>, and anonymous functions are often referred to as lambdas or lambda abstractions. Anonymous functions have been a feature of <a href="/facts/Programming_language/cWTYbgWa">programming languages</a> since <a href="/facts/Lisp_(programming_language)/xJHA3CrX">Lisp</a> in 1958, and a growing number of modern programming languages support anonymous functions. (<a href="/facts/Anonymous_function/2vdyE4zL">Full article...</a>) </p>