Partial application in Bash

curry.bash

function curry() {
    exportfun=$1; shift
    fun=$1; shift
    params=$*
    cmd=$"function $exportfun() {
        more_params=\$*;
        $fun $params \$more_params;
    }"
    eval $cmd
}

function add() {
    a=$1; shift
    b=$1; shift
    expr $a + $b
}


curry add3 add 3
$add3 9
# Guess the output :)

What is the differencce with alias?

Mostly some nuances about how aliases are handled by Bash. Check out https://gist.github.com/abesto/97a249f0d0b8406f6fc5e700d3efac93. I think functions and aliases also have different rules about sharing to subshells.

https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Aliases.html has this nugget:

For almost every purpose, shell functions are preferred over aliases.

So I guess you could argue that's another reason for this to exist.

But really this is just some educational fun, if you ever find yourself thinking you want this, you probably want to use a real programming language instead :D