In Mathematics and Computer Science
- Functional (mathematics), a term applied to certain scalar-valued functions in mathematics and computer science.
- Functional analysis
- Linear functional, a type of functional often simply called a functional in the context of functional analysis
- Higher-order function, also called a functional, a function that takes other functions as arguments
- In an ontology, "functional" is a property or relation that can only hold a single value for a given individual
- Functional programming, a programming paradigm based on mathematical functions rather than changes in variable states
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Famous quotes containing the words mathematics, computer and/or science:
“In mathematics he was greater
Than Tycho Brahe, or Erra Pater:
For he, by geometric scale,
Could take the size of pots of ale;
Resolve, by sines and tangents straight,
If bread and butter wanted weight;
And wisely tell what hour o’ th’ day
The clock doth strike, by algebra.”
—Samuel Butler (1612–1680)
“What, then, is the basic difference between today’s computer and an intelligent being? It is that the computer can be made to see but not to perceive. What matters here is not that the computer is without consciousness but that thus far it is incapable of the spontaneous grasp of pattern—a capacity essential to perception and intelligence.”
—Rudolf Arnheim (b. 1904)
“The sweetest and most inoffensive path of life leads through the avenues of science and learning; and whoever can either remove any obstructions in this way, or open up any new prospect, ought so far to be esteemed a benefactor to mankind.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)