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Ask HN: Which function definition keyword do you prefer, def or fn?

1 winwang 5 5/10/2025, 5:12:27 PM

I'm curious about what people think of `def` vs `fn`, two short keywords for starting function definitions.

...Or maybe we should subscribe to the church of `df`, haha.

Comments (5)

johncoltrane · 1d ago

"def" is too generic.

"fn" is too cryptic.

"function" is better than the two.

MultifokalHirn · 1d ago

Agreed

sitkack · 1d ago

def could be for lots of things, fn is for functions. I don't think it matters much as long as you have one. C would have been so much easier to parse. Just copy Zig or Rust.

butlersean · 1d ago

def means define, could be used to define all kinds of things

fn isnt a legitimate short form of function

fun doesnt work because of the amusement factor

func is the only alternative we have left

sitkack · 1d ago

How about unicode or emojis?

These don't have the full fidelity as hn scrubs emojis

add = (a, b) -> a + b

a, b ⟹ a + b

λ add(a, b): ↪ a + b