How can a time function exist in functional programming?

Question

I\'ve to admit that I don\'t know much about functional programming. I read about it from here and there, and so came to know that in functional programming, a function retu

Answer 1

I am surprised that none of the answers or comments mention coalgebras or coinduction. Usually, coinduction is mentioned when reasoning about infinite data structures, but it is also applicable to an endless stream of observations, such as a time register on a CPU. A coalgebra models hidden state; and coinduction models observing that state. (Normal induction models constructing state.)

This is a hot topic in Reactive Functional Programming. If you're interested in this sort of stuff, read this: http://digitalcommons.ohsu.edu/csetech/91/ (28 pp.)

• Kieburtz, Richard B., "Reactive functional programming" (1997). CSETech. Paper 91 (link)