What is Functional Programming? Everything You Should Know

What is Functional Programming?

Instead of using command lists as traditional imperative programming languages do, functional programming employs functions and the application of those functions. Simply put, this type of programming is known as functional programming.

The abstract style of programming has its roots in mathematics. It comprises expressions and functions.

In this type of programming, functions are used in transforming values into something else.

The authors have developed a strong affinity for functional programming for the past few years. After getting wet with JavaScript frameworks that promoted a more functional programming approach, we dove headfirst into the Haskell programming language and taught ourselves how to write programs.

Haskell is entirely functional. Some people compare it to Scala and Clojure in terms of its structure. When you use these programming languages, you are compelled to write code functionally. The benefits of functional programming have become much clearer to us due to our experience with the Haskel programming language.

JavaScript is a language that may be used to program in various paradigms, including the imperative and functional styles, respectively. It also indicates that functions can be used as the return value of other functions and supplied as arguments to other functions. Higher-order functions are an essential component of functional programming. How can we identify them separately? They are returning the other functions or are accepting them as parameters.

Functional programming in JavaScript has seen a significant surge in popularity, notably in conjunction with how React has grown over time. 

React is providing an API that is well-suited for a functional approach. Therefore having a strong understanding its fundamentals will allow you to write better code in React.

Main Benefits of Functional Programming

Functional programming languages frequently result in code that is not just understandable but also concise and sophisticated. Here, the code is typically simpler to test. At the same time, you can use it in environments with multiple threads. The opinions of all programmers are not the same when it comes to functional programming. These opinions will range from those who despise functional programming to those who adore it. But mark our words. If you get the hang of it, there is a high chance of you getting adapted to it.

Conclusion

We believe that now you have a clear idea about what functional programming is and how it works. In a future article, we will discuss the rules to help you achieve functional coding.