Why does Octave/Matlab use function handles

Question

What benefit does it get from treating functions specially? For example,

function n = f(x)
   2*x
endfunction

f(2) //outputs 4
f = @f
f(2) //outputs 4

If handles can be called the same way as functions, then what benefit do we get from functions being treated specially. By specially I mean that variables referring to functions can't be passed as arguments:

function n = m(f,x)
   f(x)
end

m(f,2) // generates error since f is called without arguments

Why aren't functions procedures (which are always pointed to by variables) like in other functional languages?

EDIT: It seems like my question has been completely misunderstood, so I will rephrase it. Compare the following python code

def f(x):
    return 2*x
def m(f,x):
    return f(x)
m(f,3)

to the octave code

function n = f(x)
   2*x
end
function n = m(f,x)
    f(x)
end
m(@f,2) % note that we need the @

So my question then is, what exactly is a function "object" in octave? In python, it is simply a value (functions are primitive objects which can be assigned to variables). What benefit does octave/matlab get from treating functions differently from primitive objects like all other functional languages do?

What would the following variables point to (what does the internal structure look like?)

x = 2
function n = f(x)
   2*x
end
g = @f

In python, you could simply assign g=f (without needing an indirection with @). Why does octave not also work this way? What do they get from treating functions specially (and not like a primitive value)?

quora.com/Is-MATLAB-Octave-a-functional-programming-language — Vahe Tshitoyan
your last example gives an error because f isn't defined when you call m(f,2), not because f has no arguments. If instead you did f = x.^2; m(f,2) you would get the result 4 as expected. It's currently unclear what sort of answer you are looking for... — Wolfie
f was obviously referring to the function defined in the previous block of code... I just wanted to save space. I edited my question, hope what I'm asking for is clearer. — samlaf
Related/interesting: What is a function handle and how is it useful? — gnovice

Vahe Tshitoyan Vahe Tshitoyan · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23T22:21:47

Variables referring to functions can be passed as arguments in matlab. Create a file called func.m with the following code

function [ sqr ] = func( x )
    sqr = x.^2;
end

Create a file called 'test.m' like this

function [ output ] = test( f, x )
    output = f(x);
end

Now, try the following

f=@func;
output = test(f, 3);

Why does Octave/Matlab use function handles

2 Answers