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Hey Underscore, You're Doing It Wrong!

InfoQ · 141.4K views · 2013-05-21 · 36:31

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Overview

Brian Lonsdorf explains why Underscore.js falls short as a functional programming library, then introduces currying, composition and point-free style in JavaScript. He argues for data-last argument ordering.

On Hacker News

A repeatedly recommended introduction to functional JavaScript that explains currying and why data should come last.

Recommended by 9 HN people across 7 months · HN mentions 2014–2022

Topics

Functional programmingWeb development
Search by tags
curryingfunction compositionpoint-freeunderscore.jsramda

What people said

r3a1d33p · 2022-08 · Strong recommendation

I find this talk inspiring. Underscore.js got many things wrong for FP: [VIDEO] . I've read Grokking Simplicity too. It's very approachable book. Highly recommend it for JS/TS developers who want to learn FP!

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wizao · 2015-01 · Strong recommendation

There is an excellent talk called "Underscore, you're doing it wrong!". The talk explains how well designed param order with currying leads to very short and expressive code -- and how underscore missed the boat. This aspect of it should be interesting as it's related to this post. It's well worth the watch. [VIDEO]

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lrichardson · 2014-04 · Strong recommendation

That is great feedback. I am actually working on creating a "functional" version of the 2048 game, along with my own implementation of the AI solver, as part of this series. Kinda goofy, and maybe not a "real world" situation as much, but should at least show the concepts being applied. I also very much recommend this video by Brian Lonsdorf, titled "Hey Underscore, You're Doing It Wrong!: [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by InfoQ, played through YouTube.

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