Re:Teenage Haskell
by MichaelGG on Friday June 27, 2014 @11:08PM
(#7957311)
While a comment is probably not the right place for this, the essence IMO of FP is higher order functions (HOF). Being able to pass a function to another function, is key. And yes, even C can do this, it's just cumbersome.
From that key idea of HOF, other stuff arises, like the lean towards immutability. Which gives rise to things like recursion.
This is why functional programming in non-FP languages gets cumbersome. While they can "do" FP, all the other things you want aren't supported or require a ton of effort. Whereas in an FP language, those other things (immutability, recursion, pure functions, etc.) are treated better.
But I think the blog may be messed up and it was written nearly 7 years ago when I was far less experienced with FP. There's probably far better intros out there.
From that key idea of HOF, other stuff arises, like the lean towards immutability. Which gives rise to things like recursion.
This is why functional programming in non-FP languages gets cumbersome. While they can "do" FP, all the other things you want aren't supported or require a ton of effort. Whereas in an FP language, those other things (immutability, recursion, pure functions, etc.) are treated better.
FWIW I've written a series (looking at C# specifically) on my blog http://www.atrevido.net/blog/2007/08/12/Practical+Functional...
But I think the blog may be messed up and it was written nearly 7 years ago when I was far less experienced with FP. There's probably far better intros out there.