There is no such thing as a functional programming language.

Ahem. Is this thing on? Let me try again.

There is no such thing as a functional programming language.

All right, now that I’ve got your attention, let me explain. Functional programming does not have a single definition that’s easy to agree upon. Some people use it to mean any kind of programming that centers around first-class functions passed around as arguments to other functions. Other people use it in a way that centers on the mathematical definition of a function such as ƒ(x) = x + 2; that is, a pure transformation of argument values to return values. I believe it’s more helpful to think of it as a “spectrum of functionalness” rather than criteria for making a binary “functional or not” judgment…

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