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Python: Why is functools.partial necessary?

Asked 2010-07-15T03:16:10.883
241

Partial application is cool. What functionality does functools.partial offer that you can't get through lambdas?

>>> sum = lambda x, y : x + y
>>> sum(1, 2)
3
>>> incr = lambda y : sum(1, y)
>>> incr(2)
3
>>> def sum2(x, y):
    return x + y

>>> incr2 = functools.partial(sum2, 1)
>>> incr2(4)
5

Is functools somehow more efficient, or readable?

python functional-programming partial-application
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1 Answer

109

Well, here's an example that shows a difference:

In [132]: sum = lambda x, y: x + y

In [133]: n = 5

In [134]: incr = lambda y: sum(n, y)

In [135]: incr2 = partial(sum, n)

In [136]: print incr(3), incr2(3)
8 8

In [137]: n = 9

In [138]: print incr(3), incr2(3)
12 8

These posts by Ivan Moore expand on the "limitations of lambda" and closures in python:

answered 2010-07-15T04:03:37.813

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