Why is a function defined as set of ordered pairs?

Ann Q. Gates, Vladik Kreinovich. Why is a function defined as set of ordered pairs?. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 29(4):57, 1997. [doi]

@article{GatesK97,
  title = {Why is a function defined as set of ordered pairs?},
  author = {Ann Q. Gates and Vladik Kreinovich},
  year = {1997},
  doi = {10.1145/271125.271156},
  url = {http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/271125.271156},
  researchr = {https://researchr.org/publication/GatesK97},
  cites = {0},
  citedby = {0},
  journal = {ACM SIGCSE Bulletin},
  volume = {29},
  number = {4},
  pages = {57},
}