Cannot create apply function with static language?

Question

I have read that with a statically typed language like Scala or Haskell there is no way to create or provide a Lisp apply function:

(apply #\'+ (lis         


        

Answer 1

It's trivial in Scala:

Welcome to Scala version 2.8.0.final ...

scala> val li1 = List(1, 2, 3)
li1: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3)

scala> li1.reduceLeft(_ + _)
res1: Int = 6

OK, typeless:

scala> def m1(args: Any*): Any = args.length
m1: (args: Any*)Any

scala> val f1 = m1 _
f1: (Any*) => Any = 

scala> def apply(f: (Any*) => Any, args: Any*) = f(args: _*)
apply: (f: (Any*) => Any,args: Any*)Any

scala> apply(f1, "we", "don't", "need", "no", "stinkin'", "types")
res0: Any = 6

Perhaps I mixed up funcall and apply, so:

scala> def funcall(f: (Any*) => Any, args: Any*) = f(args: _*)
funcall: (f: (Any*) => Any,args: Any*)Any

scala> def apply(f: (Any*) => Any, args: List[Any]) = f(args: _*)
apply: (f: (Any*) => Any,args: List[Any])Any

scala> apply(f1, List("we", "don't", "need", "no", "stinkin'", "types"))
res0: Any = 6

scala> funcall(f1, "we", "don't", "need", "no", "stinkin'", "types")
res1: Any = 6