When the University Serves Functional Programming Puns for Lunch
Description
A simple, text-based meme on a white background that plays on the word 'Curry'. The meme is structured in three parts. First line: 'Me : I really want to eat curry'. Second line: 'University: We have Curry at University'. Third line: 'Curry at the University:'. Below this, a mathematical formula is shown: 'X x Y -> Z = X -> (Y -> Z)'. The visual style is minimal, using only black text on a plain white surface. This meme uses the 'We have food at home' format to create a pun. The user desires the food 'curry,' but the university offers 'Currying,' a concept from computer science and mathematics. The formula shown is the type-theoretic representation of Currying, a technique used in functional programming to transform a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument. It's a niche joke that resonates with those who have a formal computer science education or work with functional programming languages like Haskell
Comments
10Comment deleted
In production, much like at the university cafeteria, you rarely get the curry you were hoping for. Instead of something satisfying, you get a series of partially applied functions that leave you hungry for a real solution
Ordered curry, got X × Y → Z ≅ X → Y → Z and a TA insisting the dish is more scalable this way - rice ships later once the cafeteria’s lazy evaluator forces it
After 20 years in the industry, I still remember the exact moment in CS theory class when I realized 'currying' had nothing to do with lunch plans - though both can leave you feeling satisfied once you finally understand what you're consuming
Ah yes, the classic bait-and-switch: you show up hungry for some tikka masala and leave with a partially applied function. At least with currying in Haskell, every function is already curried by default - unlike university cafeteria curry, which requires explicit opt-in and usually results in immediate regret. The real kicker? Both leave you wondering why you didn't just order takeout (or use a language with better ergonomics)
Asked the university for curry; got Haskell Curry instead - X×Y→Z ≅ X→(Y→Z). Now my lunch is point-free and partially applied, and the eating happens in IO
University cafeteria: sorry, the only curry we serve is eta-reduced, right-associative, and comes with implicit lambdas - BYO appetite for Hindley-Milner
University curry: elegant in theory, but try debugging that nested thunk at dinner time
Just wait for Curry–Howard–Lambek Comment deleted
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskell_Curry Comment deleted
What about Curie at the university? Comment deleted