useapply

useapply is a programming utility name used to describe a pattern in which a function is applied to a collection of argument lists. It encapsulates the common operation of invoking a function multiple times with different inputs, often within data processing or functional pipelines. The concept emphasizes separating the function logic from the data that supplies its arguments.

Typically, useapply accepts two inputs: a function f and an iterable of argument lists, each being a sequence of parameters. For each argument list args, it computes f with the elements of args passed as separate parameters; the results are collected into a new sequence. Example: f(x,y) = x + y; argsList = [(1,2), (3,4)]; useapply(f, argsList) yields [3, 7].

Language-specific realizations vary. In Python, it can be implemented as [f(*args) for args in argsList]. In JavaScript, it can be implemented using Function.prototype.apply or the spread operator: f(...args). Some languages provide a built-in apply function that directly accepts a function and an array of arguments. The approach supports error handling, arity checks, and optional currying.

See also: apply, invocation, map, curry, variadic functions.