[erlang-questions] Variables and side-effects

[Tyron Zerafa]

My idea is to serialize a function, send it over to a remote node, decode
it there and execute it. I am trying to find the possible things that may
go wrong in this approach.

Since there is no global variables, then I only need to care for the
process dictionary and ets tables.
However, I am finding a LOT of operations with side effects such as mnesia,
messages and dets which somehow need to be reflected on the original node.

Any idea how I can go about this differently or whether I am missing
anything?


On Sun, Dec 30, 2012 at 4:49 PM, Ulf Wiger <ulf@REDACTED> wrote:

>
> On 30 Dec 2012, at 12:16, Tyron Zerafa wrote:
>
> I have been reading about Erlang and I am finding a problem grasping the
> meaning of some terms related to variables.
>
> What do global, free and unbound variables stand for in Erlang? Do they
> mean the same thing?
>
>
> Global variables is what Erlang doesn't have. ;-)
>
> You can simulate global variables using processes or (within the scope of
> a process) using the process dictionary, as Michael Turner pointed out.
>
>
> Is there a notion of global/free/unbound variables in Erlang? For
> instance, can I somehow implement this lambda:  λy ->* *x+y+1 ?
>
>
>
> You can do that, by passing X to the function that creates the lambda:
>
> lambda(X) ->
>    fun(Y) ->
>          X + Y + 1
>    end.
>
> The closure will include X in its environment. Of course X will be
> immutable.
>
> If Erlang does not support global/ free/unbound variables, can we say that
> a function does not have side-effects?
>
>
> You can't say that generally, since you can call side-effecting functions
> from any function. There is currently no way to guarantee that a function
> is pure, either through static or dynamic analysis.
>
> OTOH, the number of side-effecting operations in Erlang are relatively
> few, so it's not too hard to determine that a function is pure in most
> cases. Note that any function that calls other modules will have to be
> treated as potentially side-effecting, since the semantics of the remote
> call is determined at the time of the call, and dynamic code loading can
> completely alter the type signature and semantics of an exported function.
>
> BTW, variables are free until bound, but you cannot reference an unbound
> variable unless that expression also binds a value to it. In other words,
> an unbound variable cannot appear in the RHS of an expression. Thus, you
> cannot get a null reference exception in Erlang, which even Sir Anthony
> Hoare will agree is a Very Good Thing. [1]
>
> BR,
> Ulf W
>
> [1]
> http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Null-References-The-Billion-Dollar-Mistake-Tony-Hoare
>
>
>
> Ulf Wiger, Co-founder & Developer Advocate, Feuerlabs Inc.
> http://feuerlabs.com
>
>
>
>


-- 
Best Regards,
Tyron Zerafa
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