Understanding higher-order functions
In functional programming, a higher-order function is simply a function that does at least one of the following:
- Takes one or more functions as parameters
- Returns a function as a result
Yes, you heard it right! Higher-order functions treat functions as data, to be passed around like any other value. This leads to an unprecedented level of abstraction and code reuse.
Consider a video management system in a YouTube-like platform, where efficiently handling a large collection of videos is crucial. Instead of writing separate functions for each type of video filtering, we can utilize higher-order functions for a more elegant and reusable solution. A higher-order function can abstract the filtering logic, making the code more modular and maintainable. Here’s a simplified example:
public Func<Func<Video, bool>, IEnumerable<Video>> FilterVideos(IEnumerable<Video> videos)
{
...
