Myths about functional programming

Saturday, 30 Apr 2005

A highly recommend read by the always excellent mstone:

  1. Myth #1: Functional programming is Lambda Calculus
  2. Myth #2: Functional programming is ‘different from’ imperative programming
  3. Myth #3: Functional programming is referentially transparent
  4. Myth #4: Functional programming doesn’t support variable assignment

Choice quote:

I don’t object to the fact that functional programming allows these things to happen. I JUST WANT PEOPLE TO BE AWARE OF IT, AND STOP TREATING FP LIKE SOME KIND OF MAGIC BULLET BECAUSE IT SUPERFICIALLY APPEARS NOT TO DO THINGS THAT IT ACTUALLY DOES QUITE HAPPILY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Yes, it’s a rant. One of those excellent rants worth filing away. Unless you’re already a guru (and goodness knows I ain’t), you’ll come away enlightened.