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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Applicative programming language</span></span>
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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Not to be confused with <a href="Applicative_functor" title="Applicative functor">applicative functors</a>, introduced in the paper "Applicative programming with effects"<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>.</div>
<p>In the <a href="Programming_paradigm" title="Programming paradigm">classification of programming languages</a>, an <b>applicative programming language</b> is built out of <a href="Function_(computer_science)" class="mw-redirect" title="Function (computer science)">functions</a> applied to <a href="Argument_(computer_science)" class="mw-redirect" title="Argument (computer science)">arguments</a>. Applicative languages are <a href="Functional_programming" title="Functional programming">functional</a>, and applicative is often used as a synonym for functional.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, <a href="Concatenative_languages" class="mw-redirect" title="Concatenative languages">concatenative languages</a> can be functional, while not being applicative.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>The <a href="Semantics_(computer_science)" title="Semantics (computer science)">semantics</a> of applicative languages are based on <a href="Beta_reduction" class="mw-redirect" title="Beta reduction">beta reduction</a> of terms, and <a href="Side_effect_(computer_science)" title="Side effect (computer science)">Side effect</a> such as mutation of <a href="State_(computer_science)" title="State (computer science)">state</a> are not permitted.<sup id="cite_ref-Backus_1977_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Backus_1977-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p><a href="Lisp_programming_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Lisp programming language">Lisp</a> and <a href="ML_programming_language" class="mw-redirect" title="ML programming language">ML</a> are applicative programming languages.
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2></div>
<ul><li><a href="Applicative_universal_grammar" title="Applicative universal grammar">Applicative universal grammar</a></li>
<li><a href="Function-level_programming" title="Function-level programming">Function-level programming</a></li></ul>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
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<li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">
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</style><cite id="CITEREFMcBridePaterson2008" class="citation journal cs1">McBride, Conor; Paterson, Ross (2008-01-01). "Applicative programming with effects". <i>Journal of Functional Programming</i>. <b>18</b> (1): <span class="nowrap">1–</span>13. <a href="CiteSeerX_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="CiteSeerX (identifier)">CiteSeerX</a> <span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.114.1555">10.1.1.114.1555</a></span>. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0956796807006326">10.1017/S0956796807006326</a>. <a href="ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1469-7653">1469-7653</a>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFDershowitzPlaisted1985" class="citation conference cs1">Dershowitz, Nachum; Plaisted, David A. (1985). "Logic Programming cum Applicative Programming". <i>Symposium on Logic Programming</i>. Boston, MA. pp. <span class="nowrap">54–</span>66. <a href="CiteSeerX_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="CiteSeerX (identifier)">CiteSeerX</a> <span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.404.3826">10.1.1.404.3826</a></span>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFJon_Purdy2012" class="citation web cs1">Jon Purdy (12 February 2012). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://evincarofautumn.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-concatenative-programming-matters.html">"Why Concatenative Programming Matters"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">28 April</span> 2020</span>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-Backus_1977-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Backus_1977_4-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFBackus1978" class="citation journal cs1">Backus, J. (1978). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1145%2F359576.359579">"Can programming be liberated from the von Neumann style?: A functional style and its algebra of programs"</a>. <i>Communications of the ACM</i>. <b>21</b> (8): <span class="nowrap">613–</span>641. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1145%2F359576.359579">10.1145/359576.359579</a></span>.</cite></span>
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