Dimitre, could you refer us to a general discussion or monograph which
illustrates the problems for functional languages, not specific to XSLT.
I understand that the absence of side effects is a design goal for
functional languages.
This example from Wikipedia shows that side-effects are harmful not only
in functional languages but also in imperative ones:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side-effect_(computer_science)
Beyond provability and state reliability, are
there any other challenges? A better understanding of the danger
allows for an improved assessment of risk.
Nobody here even bothers about provability. Stated in a general form,
using functions with side effects in a uncontrolled manner leads to
unpredictable results, which can change from one language processor to
another or from one version of a language processor to another or even
from one run of the program to another run with the same language
processor.
Examples are available.
Dimitre Novatchev.
FXSL developer,
http://fxsl.sourceforge.net/ -- the home of FXSL
Resume: http://fxsl.sf.net/DNovatchev/Resume/Res.html
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