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What Is &+/2 In Elixir?

2 minutes read

In Elixir, &+/2 is a shorthand way of writing an anonymous function that takes two arguments and performs the addition operation on them. The ampersand (&) signifies the start of an anonymous function, followed by the operator (+) and the number of arguments (2). This can be used in various contexts, such as passing the function as an argument to another function or using it in a map or reduce operation.


What are some common uses of &+/2 in Elixir?

  1. Pattern matching: &+/2 is commonly used in Elixir to perform pattern matching on functions with the same number of arguments. It allows for a more concise and readable code when matching function clauses.
  2. List processing: &+/2 can be used to perform various list processing operations, such as calculating the sum of a list of numbers or concatenating lists together.
  3. Function composition: &+/2 can be used to compose multiple functions together by passing the result of one function as the input to the next function.
  4. Higher-order functions: &+/2 can be used as an argument to higher-order functions, allowing for more flexibility and abstraction in functional programming.
  5. Anonymous functions: &+/2 can be used to define anonymous functions quickly and concisely, especially when performing simple arithmetic operations or transformations on data.


How to pass arguments to &+/2 in Elixir?

To pass arguments to the &+/2 function in Elixir, you can use it like any other function by providing the arguments within parenthesis. Here is an example of how to pass arguments to the &+/2 function:

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2

result = Enum.reduce([1, 2, 3, 4], &+/2)
IO.inspect(result) # This will output 10


In this example, we are using Enum.reduce/2 function with &+/2 as the accumulator function. The &+/2 function takes two arguments, so we don't need to explicitly provide them as the Enum.reduce/2 function handles passing the necessary arguments.


What is the history of &+/2 in Elixir development?

In Elixir development, the &+/2 syntax is known as the anonymous function shorthand for the Kernel.+/2 function. This shorthand was introduced in Elixir version 1.2 as part of the language's efforts to simplify and streamline the syntax for defining anonymous functions.


Before the introduction of the &+/2 syntax, developers had to explicitly define anonymous functions using the fn keyword, which could lead to more verbose and less readable code. The &+/2 shorthand allows developers to define anonymous functions more concisely by using the & operator followed by the function name and its arity (number of arguments).


For example, instead of writing:

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Enum.map([1, 2, 3], fn x -> x + 1 end)


Developers can now write:

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Enum.map([1, 2, 3], &+/2)


This simplification of syntax has been well-received by the Elixir community and has helped to make code more readable and concise. The &+/2 shorthand is now widely used in Elixir development for defining anonymous functions and has become a standard part of the language's syntax.

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