Discovering the Principles of Functional Programming with JavaScript

In this post, I will lay down the major principles of Functional Programming, starting with the basics and then exploring more advanced concepts.

I’ll first talk about why you should bother with Functional Programming, that is when it’s useful and when it’s not.

We will cover a lot of stuff here, so please go at your own pace. Take some breaks and naps between your reading sessions and do the exercises I propose.

Of course, you can skip sections or go back and fourth depending on your needs.

This post intentionally targets several kind of readers:

1. Those who know almost nothing about FP but are pretty familiar with JavaScript
2. Those with an Intermediate knowledge of FP and some familiarity with the paradigm, but who want a clearer picture of the whole and want to explore advanced concepts
3. Those who know a lot about FP and want a cheatsheet+ to revisit some concepts if needed

I invite you to ponder each sentence carefully instead of rushing through the content like we’re all used to.

I hope this post will be an important milestone in your journey into Functional Programming, as well as a source of information to go back to when needed.

Just a heads up, though – this post doesn’t constitute a single source of truth but rather an invitation to go further after reading it.

In other words, it’s meant to be revisited and expanded with further resources and practice.

I hope to clarify the functional landscape in your mind, spark your interest for what you didn’t know, and more importantly, provide useful tools for your day-to-day projects.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

Why Functional Programming?

In my opinion, there are 3 major benefits to FP and 3 (little) drawbacks:

Advantages:

1. More readability, thus maintainability
2. Less buggy, especially in concurrent contexts
3. A new way of thinking about problem solving
4. (Personal bonus) Just great to learn about!

Drawbacks:

1. Can have performance issues
2. Less intuitive to work with when dealing with state and I/O
3. Unfamiliar for most people + math terminology that slows the learning process

Now I’ll explain why I think that.

#functional #programming #web-development #developer #javascript