[didibus]

Can we extend from this another misconception then? That functional programming stems from the Lambda Calculus? When in reality, it might come from Lisp, which does not come from Lambda Calculus, thus making Lisp the root of the tree for the origin of functional programming?

[carapace]

We know "the root of the tree for the origin of functional programming": John Backus's Turing Award lecture "Can Programming Be Liberated from the von Neumann Style? A Functional Style and Its Algebra of Programs"

https://amturing.acm.org/award_winners/backus_0703524.cfm It's not obvious but the "ACM Turing Award Lecture" link is the PDF.

[tempguy9999]

I dunno. I thought the foundations were laid in mathematics considerably pre computer. eg. from wiki's page on haskell curry:

"

The focus of Curry's work were attempts to show that combinatory logic could provide a foundation for mathematics. (edit: accidentally stripped the part here mentioned that was in 1933 ie. very pre-computer) [...]. The paradox, developed by Rosser and Stephen Kleene, had proved the inconsistency of a number of related formal systems, including one proposed by Alonzo Church (a system which had the lambda calculus as a consistent subsystem) and Curry's own system. [...]

By working in the area of Combinatory Logic for his entire career, Curry essentially became the founder and biggest name in the field. Combinatory logic is the foundation for one style of functional programming language. The power and scope of combinatory logic are quite similar to that of the lambda calculus of Church, and the latter formalism has tended to predominate in recent decades.

"

And I think there's more but it's hardly my field. Prolog is grown out of predicate calculus which has its roots in propositional calculus, which goes back to the ancient greeks.

The mathematical foundations of things can be surprisingly old. I saw a 3D wireframe of a goblet with perspective, and that was from the 1500's. It could have been done on a 1980's home computer by appearance.

[carapace]

You reminded me of one of my favorite jokes:

"Computer Science could be called the post-Turing decline in the study of formal systems."

(I dunno who said it. Maybe Dijkstra.)

[tempguy9999]

That is funny. But you could also restate that as "computer science could be called the post-turing mass commercialisation of formal systems" cos AFAIK being a pure mathematician was never a path to wealth.

Come to think of it, still isn't so here's one in return

Q. What's the difference between a mathematician and a large pizza?

A. A large pizza can feed a family of four.

[carapace]

Not in every case...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Harris_Simons

[cannabis_sam]

Not really, Peter Landin’s ISWIM is essentially syntactic sugar over lambda calculus, and went on to influence ML and Haskell. So there is a more direct lineage from lambda calculus to functional programming via that route.

(Regarding the sibling comment: Landin’s paper also predates Backus’ paper by about 10 years)

[didibus]

No idea how accurate it is, but Wikipedia says that ISWIM was influenced by Lisp...

[cannabis_sam]

That is correct.

From Landin’s paper:

6. Relationship to LISP

ISWIM can be looked on as an attempt to deliver LISP from its eponymous commitment to lists, its reputation for hand-to-mouth storage allocation, the hardware dependent flavor of its pedagogy, its heavy bracketing, and its compromises with tradition.