Is Javascript A Functional Language?

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Michael Zippo 04.11.2021

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Functional style programming focuses on pure math functions, immutable data, logic flow, and data entry. Functional programming languages ‚Äã‚Äãare the opposite of object-oriented ones, which focus on changing data and changing states.

Functional programming languages ‚Äã‚Äãare everywhere and the vast majority of internet uses them. In fact, I am right now using a functional programming language to write this article.

Learning what a functional programming language is and knowing its pros and cons is helpful for anyone involved in computing or programming.

Let ’s take a moment to define this programming paradigm (and paradigms in general), then look at some of the pros and cons of functional programming.

What is a programming paradigm?

Since computers are, at their core, machines, we need a good way to communicate with them. However, the more abstract of ones and zeros, the more specialized a language becomes. This is why we have so many high level languages, because they all work a little differently and are all suitable for different tasks.

Enter the programming paradigm, which is a means of classifying programming languages ‚Äã‚Äãby their central theory or methodology for managing data. Languages qualify for a paradigm by having a set of defining principles. There are many programming paradigms, many of which overlap or contain other paradigms. The two main paradigms are functional and object oriented, but there are many other ways of dealing with data not considered by these two paradigms.

What is functional programming?

Functional programming is one of the two best known programming paradigms , the other object being oriented programming. In short, functional programming focuses on pure mathematical functions and immutable data - that is, data that cannot be changed after it is created. It has no state, which means that the only thing that changes in a functional program is the entry.

Since there has been no state that change with objects, in functional programming you could conceptually change in code order and still have the same output. It’s like multiplying eight numbers together, no matter what order you multiply them, you always get the same result

In this sense, functional programming is all about flow. Entries come from above and results fall below. This contrasts with object-oriented programming, which is more of a changing state machine, with unique and changing objects.

Functional programming falls under the umbrella of the imperative programming paradigm, the opposite of declarative programming where oriented programming resides.

Functional programming has been around for a while longer than object-oriented programming since the Turing machine . two generations, but recently made a comeback in JavaScript , which is paradigm independent but was considered a more functional language than a an object oriented.

principles of definition functional programming

functional programming is based on principles of definition, on which all languages ‚Äã‚Äãthat adhere to this methodology are based:

• pure functions - functional programming uses pure functions these are functions that do not change, produce reliable results and always produce the same. result for the same or entry. They do not produce any unexpected results or side effects and are quite predictable, regardless of the external code
• immutability -. This is the principle that once you set a value for something, that value is never going to change. This helps to eliminate side effects or unexpected results because the program is not dependent on condition. Therefore, functions always work the same every time they are executed; these are pure functions.
• Disciplined State - New values ‚Äã‚Äãcan be created, so there are states that can change in this direction, but it is a deeply controlled process. Functional programming aims to avoid a shared state and mutability. If the state is well controlled, it is easier to scale and debug, and less unexpected results are obtained if something changes unexpectedly
• referential transparency & ndash. This principle stems from a combination of pure functions and immutability. Since our functions are pure and predictable, we can use them to replace variables and thus reduce the number of missions we do. If the result of a function would be equal to a variable, since our results are predictable, we can simply replace the variable with that function.
• First class functions - This principle is simple. Functional programming values ‚Äã‚Äãcertain functions, first-class functions , very strongly. Hence, it has the support to switch entire functions between them as easily as other variable languages ‚Äã‚Äãcould. These functions can be treated as values ‚Äã‚Äãor data in functional programming.
• Systems Type - Because functional programming is so focused on accuracy and error prevention, having a statically typed system makes sense. Is to make sure that each data type is correctly assigned, strings are strings and floats are floats and prevents unpredictable variables from being used. This helps our pure and error free functions which may require some type of data to function properly.

pros and cons? the functional programming

Like all programming paradigms, the functional programming has its advantages and disadvantages. Let’s take a look at these to understand our best use case for functional programming.

Pro

• Readability - Since we’ve kept almost everything at a function level, our code is easy to read. What you see is what you get, states don’t change unexpectedly, and most of the data is immutable. There is no need to search what is to check our variables, or throw a weird error, or change our code for other functions. All of our code is in front of us with functional programming.
• Stability - Since we have checked our code so rigorously, there are no termination issues, no wilds or stray variables, and no side effects. Everything tends to happen as expected because that’s the way the code is designed. Rather than being an unpredictable state machine that has too many moving parts to follow or fully understand, functional programming is more like static objects than bounce data as it makes its way downstream.
• easier to build - Because functional programming is so stable, it’s easy to keep building on it, trust your foundation is secure. It’s also easier to reach higher levels of abstraction, with functions on functions that let you tidy up most of your more routine code , such as iterative programs and code, and make your code shorter and more stable.
• It’s easier to debug - Since the code is readable, the data flow has a clear path through the code and our functions are holy and pure, debugging is much simpler. You will spend less time chasing stray insects, side effects, and unpredictable states if there were no states or mutability.
• Focus on what, not how - Functional programming falls under the umbrella declarative paradigm, meaning that the focus when programming is on what you want to happen, while that functions will take care of the way

Minus

• Less readable -. For some of the same reasons as functional programming, it can be read easily, it can also be difficult to read. Most of the functional programming functions can easily be abused to create abstraction hovering towers , where a short line can contain volumes and you have to dig through stacks of functions to find what it really does.
• Difficult to learn - Functional programming is more academic and rigorous than object-oriented programming. It also requires a better understanding of algebra, lambda calculus, and category theory, on which much is based. Less accessible teaching materials exist for functional programming and functional programming requires a different kind of logic than we are used to.
• Difficult to use - adhering to the above principles is: difficult, especially when having changing states greatly facilitates programming much easier. Functional programming is often a long road, so writing a single function is easy, creating a complete program is difficult.
• Performance - Using many immutable values using more memory means or more processing power , because to change one value you need to create new ones information or execute a function to get the result each time it is called
• input / output -. IO relies on side effects, functional programming that aims to avoid. Although IO can be integrated into functional programs, it goes against grain by nature and requires special attention.

functional programming languages ‚Äã‚Äã

functional programming is much older than object-oriented programming and has made a comeback to the languages ‚Äã‚Äãon this list in recent years.

• JavaScript - While JavaScript is a purely functional language, it has many functional programming features of this fact , the programmers have used functional programming more often JavaScript before because it can be. more useful and stable in some scripting situations than object oriented languages ‚Äã‚Äã
• Clojure -. It’s not quite the colloquial name that JavaScript is, but is a solid functional programming language built on top of LSIP, which has been around since the 1950s. That means you. that is;. is functional down to its roots it runs on the java platform and is compiled bytecode JVM
• Haskell -. Haskell is another purely functional language and is designed to solve real world problems rather than academics. It’s not as old as Lisp; was created in the 90s. It has been used for some popular projects, like the xmonad window manager.

Although functional programming occupies a more special place than object oriented languages, its growing popularity implies the demand for more functional programmers in an area where there is very little. Learning functional programming would put you in a rewarding job market that is unique and fun in itself.