Thoughts on Functional Programming Podcast

JavaScript programmers talk a lot about callback hell. In this episode, we look at the phenomenon from a functional programming perspective.

We look at a metaphor to explain the three domains in functional programming: actions, calculations, and data. I hope the metaphor makes some things clearer and can help people explain fp better to others.

Is there something that functional programmers do that, without that, you couldn’t really call them a functional programmer? Is there a power that all other powers are dependent on?

Some might say that functional programming has the answers to solve the problems of concurrent, parallel, and distributed systems. But is that true? We explore what FP has to offer.

We talk a lot about composition, but what does it mean? Each domain (action, calculation, data) has its own way to compose. In this quick episode, I explain each one.

Postel’s Law states that a program should be liberal in what it accepts and strict in what it sends. What does this have to do with functional programming? How can this help us reduce complexity?

I explore the idea that Functional Programming is more expressive than Procedural Programming (and why it is) using a metaphor of a pizza master.

Functional Programmers will talk about immutable values. What do they mean? How can you write software where none of the values change?

John Hughes, FP researcher extraordinaire, says Whole Values is one of the principles of Functional Programming. But what does he mean? We explore this important concept.