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Discussion on: Poll: Do You Know What "Idempotent" Means?

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Shaun Smiley

NB: I am NOT a webdev... at all.

My definition:
f(f(x)) = f(x)

i.e.
applying the same function f() 1 or more times yields identical output (including side effects).

Idempotent has been a well talked about term in DevOps / Systems Automation circles for a while now. It's also quite popular in functional programming, and of course began in mathematics.