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To: "Yahav Gindi Bar" <g.b.yahav@gmail.com>, "Alex Aulbach"
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Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2012 20:37:33 +0200
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Re: Generators in PHP
From: glopes@nebm.ist.utl.pt ("Gustavo Lopes")

Em Tue, 24 Jul 2012 19:56:46 +0200, Alex Aulbach <alex.aulbach@gmail.com>  
escreveu:

> 2012/7/24 Andrew Faulds <ajf@ajf.me>:
>> Much easier to make an iterator with a function than as a class.
>
> 2012/7/24 Yahav Gindi Bar <g.b.yahav@gmail.com>:
>> I agree, implementing a class only for iterator may be pain sometimes,  
>> and functions is much better - especially when 5.3 got the anonymous  
>> functions, so we can even use the generators for iterator functions in  
>> class methods which can be great.
>
> Ok, why not call it "iterator" or "generator" or "huffpuff" instead of
> "function"? It's just the naming, which disturbs me, because a
> function is something which is, when called once finished once. I
> don't like mathematics, but that is one of the definition of a
> function:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_%28mathematics%29
> "each input is related to exactly one output"
>

Other have already explained that PHP functions are not strictly  
mathematical functions, but generators nevertheless somewhat fit that  
description. When you have function foo() { ... yield /* ... */; ... } and  
you call foo(), you get the same thing every time: a Generator object. It  
so happens that the implementation of that object is inside the body of  
the function.

Maybe this helps you reason about the feature.

-- 
Gustavo Lopes