I assumed that pure functions must always have a return type (i.e., must not be void
) and must have the same output regardless of the state of the object and that Impure functions change the state of the object or print the state of the object.
But the textbook I use states that:
An accessor usually contains a return statement, but a method that prints information about an objects state may also be classified as an accessor.
I'm confused. Which one is correct?
EDIT
A bit of clarification,The thing that makes me ask is this question:
The last question is to "Give the type of function used", and the people who commented there stated that it is an impure function as it is printing.
So is this function pure or impure?
A Pure function is a function that does not modify any external variable. And the Impure function modifies the external variable. A basic principle of functional programming is that it avoids changing the application state and variables outside its scope. Let see how it works in React.
An impure function is a function that mutates variables/state/data outside of it's lexical scope, thus deeming it “impure” for this reason. There are many ways to write JavaScript, and thinking in terms of impure/pure functions we can write code that is much easier to reason with.
Your function is pure if it does not contain any external code. Otherwise, it is impure if it includes one or more side effects.
log() and alert() are impure functions because they have side effects (although they generate the same behavior and always return the same value for identical calls). Any function that changes the internal state of one of its arguments or the value of some external variable is an impure function.
Content taken from this link
Characteristics of Pure Function:
The return value of the pure functions solely depends on its arguments Hence, if you call the pure functions with the same set of arguments, you will always get the same return values.
They do not have any side effects like network or database calls
Characterisitcs of Impure functions
The return value of the impure functions does not solely depend on its arguments Hence, if you call the impure functions with the same set of arguments, you might get the different return values For example, Math.random(), Date.now()
They may have any side effects like network or database calls
They may modify the arguments which are passed to them
function impureFunc(value){
return Math.random() * value;
}
function pureFunc(value){
return value * value;
}
var impureOutput = [];
for(var i = 0; i < 5; i++){
impureOutput.push(impureFunc(5));
}
var pureOutput = [];
for(var i = 0; i < 5; i++){
pureOutput.push(pureFunc(5));
}
console.log("Impure result: " + impureOutput); // result is inconsistent however input is same.
console.log("Pure result: " + pureOutput); // result is consistent with same input
From Wikipedia - a function may be described as a pure function if both these statements about the function hold:
Therefore, if either statement is false when compared to your code then it is impure.
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