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Hey Underscore, You're Doing It Wrong!

InfoQ · talk · Watch on YouTube

Functional programmingWeb development

What it is

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.

Why Hacker News recommends it

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

  • 9 people recommended it
  • 7 different months
  • 3 strong recommendations
  • first 2014, last 2022

What HN commenters said

  1. “I also very much recommend this video by Brian Lonsdorf”

    Brian Lonsdorf's talk on functional style in JS.

    lrichardson, 2014-04 · Strong recommendation · in “Functional JavaScript, Part 3: apply, call, and the arguments object”

  2. “It's well worth the watch.”

    Shows how param order and currying yield short expressive code.

    wizao, 2015-01 · Strong recommendation · in “Lodash v3.0.0”

  3. “I find this talk inspiring.”

    Inspiring talk on where Underscore.js went wrong for FP.

    r3a1d33p, 2022-08 · Strong recommendation · in “Ask HN: Learning Functional Programming in 2022?”

  4. “More info on the topic”

    More info on Ramda-style function composition.

    grayrest, 2014-07 · Recommendation · in “Don’t Be Scared Of Functional Programming”

  5. “It is much better than the title would suggest :)”

    Much better than the title suggests.

    hueyp, 2014-07 · Recommendation · in “Videos about JavaScript”

  6. “I'm a javascript programmer introduced to these concepts via [1]”

    Introduced point-free style in JavaScript to the commenter.

    lsdafjklsd, 2014-07 · Recommendation · in “A Gentle Introduction to Monad Transformers – or, Values as Exceptions”

  7. “If you're familiar with javascript, have a look at”

    Suggested for JavaScript users learning functional programming.

    ignoramous, 2015-07 · Recommendation · in “Mostly Adequate Guide to Functional Programming in JavaScript”

  8. “this video gives a pretty good explanation in ~30 minutes”

    Good ~30 minute explanation of why data comes last.

    patricklynch, 2016-07 · Recommendation · in “Just: A library of dependency-free JS utilities that do just do one thing”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: currying, function composition, point-free, underscore.js, ramda

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