Understanding Functional Programming
Functional programming is a programming paradigm that treats computation as the evaluation of mathematical functions and avoids changing-state and mutable data. It emphasizes the application of functions, in contrast to the procedural programming paradigm, which emphasizes changes in state and the execution of sequences of commands.
Key Concepts
- Pure Functions: Functions where the output value is determined only by its input values, without observable side effects.
- First-Class and Higher-Order Functions: Functions are treated as first-class citizens. Higher Order functions either take functions as parameters or return them.
- Immutability: Data objects are immutable, meaning they cannot be altered after their creation.
- Referential Transparency: An expression that can be replaced with its value without changing the program's behavior.
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