Comparison To Other Languages
Generic functions correspond roughly to what Smalltalk calls methods, with the notable exception that, in Smalltalk, the receiver's class is the sole determinant of which body of code is actually called: the types or values of the arguments are irrelevant (single dispatch). In a programming language with multiple dispatch when a generic function is called, method dispatch occurs on the basis of all arguments, not just a single privileged one. New Flavors also provided generic functions, but only single dispatch.
Another, completely separate definition of generic function is a function that uses parametric polymorphism. This is the definition used when working with a language like OCaml. An example of a generic function is
id: a->a let id a = awhich takes an argument of any type and returns something of that same type.
Read more about this topic: Generic Function
Famous quotes containing the words comparison and/or languages:
“[Girls] study under the paralyzing idea that their acquirements cannot be brought into practical use. They may subserve the purposes of promoting individual domestic pleasure and social enjoyment in conversation, but what are they in comparison with the grand stimulation of independence and self- reliance, of the capability of contributing to the comfort and happiness of those whom they love as their own souls?”
—Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)
“No doubt, to a man of sense, travel offers advantages. As many languages as he has, as many friends, as many arts and trades, so many times is he a man. A foreign country is a point of comparison, wherefrom to judge his own.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)