Tacit programming, also called
point-free style, is a
programming paradigm in which function definitions do not identify the
arguments (or "points") on which they operate. Instead the definitions merely
compose other functions, among which are
combinators that manipulate the arguments. Tacit programming is of theoretical interest, because the strict use of composition results in programs that are well adapted for
equational reasoning. It is also the natural style of certain
programming languages, including
APL and its derivatives, and
concatenative languages such as
Forth. Despite this base, the lack of argument naming gives point-free style a reputation of being unnecessarily obscure, hence the epithet "pointless style."