Timeline for Why are combinators important in lambda calculus?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jun 29, 2020 at 22:21 | comment | added | Student | I'd like to view it this way: as combinators have no free variables and therefore are self-sufficient. This allows you to composite them without worrying its states. | |
| Jan 22, 2017 at 2:31 | vote | accept | Dave | ||
| Jan 20, 2017 at 1:40 | comment | added | Dave | Ok great. I knew about the basic origins and that it theoretically can be a math foundation, but not how far it reaches into theory today. Thanks. | |
| Jan 20, 2017 at 1:29 | comment | added | Derek Elkins left SE | @Dave The original purpose for the lambda calculus in the 1930s was understanding mathematical logic. There are deep connections various typed lambda calculi and category theory, and from there to physics as covered in Physics, Topology, Logic and Computation: A Rosetta Stone. There are applications to linguistics. I'm sure there are more. The connection to category theory allows it to be transplanted into many other fields, e.g. graph theory, though the significance isn't always clear. | |
| Jan 20, 2017 at 0:42 | comment | added | Dave | I should clarify my question but I can't edit it -- I'm sure it is useful to study it for other reasons, but I'm not sure what reasons there are for studying it. | |
| Jan 20, 2017 at 0:35 | comment | added | Dave | Great answer thanks. This is along the lines of what I was trying to get at but I couldn't word it as clearly as you did. Is it useful to study lambda calculus for purposes other than influencing functional programming? | |
| Jan 19, 2017 at 7:38 | history | answered | Derek Elkins left SE | CC BY-SA 3.0 |