Programming Elixir ≥ 1.6

We cover:

• Anonymous functions
• Pattern matching and arguments
• Higher-order functions
• Closures
• The & function literal

Chapter 5Anonymous Functions

Elixir is a functional language, so it’s no surprise functions are a basic type.

An anonymous function is created using the fn keyword.

fn
  parameter-list -> body
  parameter-list -> body ...
end

Think of fn…end as being a bit like the quotes that surround a string literal, except here we’re returning a function as a value, not a string. We can pass that function value to other functions. We can also invoke it, passing in arguments.

At its simplest, a function has a parameter list and a body, separated by ->.

For example, the following defines a function, binding it to the variable sum, and then ...