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@bahmutov
Last active April 7, 2016 14:08
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Is it pure?
// A: is this pure function?
function sum(a, b) { return a + b }
// B: is this a pure function?
const k = 2
function addK(a) { return a + k }
// C: is this a pure function?
function sub(a, b) { return sum(a, -b) }
// D: is this a pure function?
function sub(a, b, summer) { return summer(a, b) }
// E: is this a pure function?
var sum = (a, b) => a + b
function sub(a, b) { return sum(a, -b) }
// F: is this a pure function?
const sum = require('./sum')
function sub(a, b) { return sum(a, -b) }
// G: is this a pure function?
const foo = eval('(function sum(a, b) { return a + b })')
// H: is sub a pure function?
const K = 10
function sub(a, b) {
return function () {
return a - b + K
}
}
// I: is sub a pure function?
// module sum.js
module.exports = {
sum: function sum(a, b) { return a + b }
}
// module index.js
const sumThem = require('./sum').sum
function sub(a, b) {
return sumThem(a - b)
}
@vkarpov15
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C and D are tricky, because calling a function can be considered a side effect, even if the function being called is pure. C is also technically dependent on external state.

@gunar s definition really depends on your definition of side effect, which is a tricky subject in js because even accessing a property can be an observable interaction because of defineproperty and proxies

@bahmutov
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Thanks guys for trying, I think everything can be thought of pure if we rewrite top level sum by substituting external variables with their values. This is why I disagree with everyone at least in case of E: it is NOT pure.

// E: is this a pure function?
var sum = (a, b) => a + b
function sub(a, b) { return sum(a, -b) }
sub(10, 1) // 9
sum = (a,b) => 0
sub(10, 1) // 0

@jethrolarson
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Function statements also have two states due to hoisting.

@gunar
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gunar commented Mar 30, 2016

@bahmutov damn! Nice catch on E.

@bahmutov
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@jethrolarson I assume that every function has been hoisted already and we don't override functions with variables with same name

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