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In computer science, a programming language is said to have first-class functions if it treats functions as first-class citizens.This means the language supports passing functions as arguments to other functions, returning them as the values from other functions, and assigning them to variables or storing them in data structures. [1]
The following algorithm is one way to lambda-lift an arbitrary program in a language which doesn't support closures as first-class objects: Rename the functions so that each function has a unique name. Replace each free variable with an additional argument to the enclosing function, and pass that argument to every use of the function.
Higher-order programming is a style of computer programming that uses software components, like functions, modules or objects, as values. It is usually instantiated with, or borrowed from, models of computation such as lambda calculus which make heavy use of higher-order functions. A programming language can be considered higher-order if ...
Calling f with a regular function argument first applies this function to the value 2, then returns 3. However, when f is passed to call/cc (as in the last line of the example), applying the parameter (the continuation) to 2 forces execution of the program to jump to the point where call/cc was called, and causes call/cc to return the value 2.
In Python, functions are first-class objects that can be created and passed around dynamically. Python's limited support for anonymous functions is the lambda construct. An example is the anonymous function which squares its input, called with the argument of 5:
This can be done either explicitly, by using a higher-order function – passing in a function as an argument and calling it – or implicitly, via reflection features which allow one to access certain functions depending on the current context, especially "the current function" or sometimes "the calling function of the current function".
pointer to function; pointer to member function; functor; lambda expression. std::function is a template class that can hold any callable object that matches its signature. In C++, any class that overloads the function call operator operator() may be called using function-call syntax.
Many programming languages support passing and returning function values, which can be applied to arguments. Whether this suffices to call function values first-class is disputed. Some authors require it be possible to create new functions at runtime to call them 'first-class'.