[Haskell-cafe] definition of the term "combinator"

damodar kulkarni kdamodar2000 at gmail.com
Sat Aug 24 09:10:18 CEST 2013


Thanks. I found the explanation given at the link quite useful in shedding
the confusion I had had.

Thanks and regards,
-Damodar Kulkarni


On Sat, Aug 24, 2013 at 10:57 AM, Jason Dagit <dagitj at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 23, 2013 at 9:09 PM, damodar kulkarni <kdamodar2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>> The word "combinator" is used several times in the Haskell community.
>> e.g. parser combinator, combinator library etc.
>>
>> Is it exactly the same term that is used in the "combinatory logic" ?
>> A combinator is a higher-order function that uses *only function
>> application* and earlier defined combinators to define a result from its
>> arguments. [1]
>>
>> It seems, the term combinator as in, say, "parser combinator", doesn't
>> have much to do with the "*only function application*" requirement of the
>> "combinatory logic", per se.
>>
>> If the above observation holds, is the term combinator as used in the
>> Haskell community, properly defined?
>>
>> In other words:
>>
>> Where can I find a formal and precise definition of the term
>> "combinator", as a term used by the Haskell community to describe
>> "something"?
>>
>
> Good question. I believe this article addresses the points you raise:
> http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Combinator
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.haskell.org/pipermail/haskell-cafe/attachments/20130824/afca30a9/attachment.htm>


More information about the Haskell-Cafe mailing list