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i predict

 
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that functional programming will become important in the next 10 yrs.
mainstream employers will be late to the game
 
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Randall, I think you're already late to the game. Functional programming has been important since the 50's.
 
Randall Twede
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I guess I should have said "more important" or "increasingly important"
from what I have read functional programming is better than imperative in parallel processing.
I have also read that mainstream languages(java, .net) cant(well, its harder) take full advantage of the improved hardware.
 
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Stephan van Hulst wrote:Randall, I think you're already late to the game. Functional programming has been important since the 50's.


That depends what your definition of "important" is exactly...

Most mainstream programming languages since the end of the 1980's have been object oriented programming languages, for example C++ and Java.

The last 4 or 5 years functional programming has been getting a lot of attention. The main reason for this is that computers are getting more parallel - even your phone today has a quadcore or even 8-core CPU nowadays, and functional programming is built upon principles that make it very well suited for parallel programming, such as immutable data structures.

The thing that makes parallel programming hard is having mutable state - if multiple threads can modify a data structure at the same time, you'd have to be very careful with synchronization, and it's easy to introduce non-obvious bugs or potential deadlock situations. If everything is immutable, then multiple threads will never modify the same data structure, and you eliminate the hardest problem of parallel programming.

It's also fun and interesting to learn about functional programming, as Randall has noticed (he's been looking at some functional programming languages lately) it's a whole new world that you didn't know even existed.
 
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Randall Twede wrote:that functional programming will become important in the next 10 yrs.


That will gladden Stephan's heart (if you're right).

Let me play the Devil's advocate and say I disagree: I think it's a fad that will soon diminsh due to lack of proper training and testing frameworks; and probably find a niche for itself as just another "tool" in a good programmer's armoury - good for some things but not for all,

Winston
 
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Let's make a bet Winston: If the popularity of functional programming has strongly waned in 5 years time, I'll come look you up with a crate of some very nice beers.

I'm not sure how I would strictly define the terms of the bet, but I'll know if I've lost :P
 
Winston Gutkowski
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Stephan van Hulst wrote:Let's make a bet Winston: If the popularity of functional programming has strongly waned in 5 years time, I'll come look you up with a crate of some very nice beers.


I'm game. What do you want if you win? (Please note: I'm not a rich man)

[Edit] I should perhaps qualify my disagreement: The minute an "Effective Functions" book comes out - ie, a really good "why to" book that explains when (and, more importantly, when not) to use functional code, and maybe some smart techniques and patterns for writing your own - I may change my tune.
But right now we seem to be swamped by a pile of bloated and complex APIs, and a bunch of functional "zealots" telling us that we should use them (and lambdas) everywhere we possibly can.

Personally, I'm waiting for the first major app crash directly attributable to overuse (or misuse) of version 8 stuff...

Winston
 
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Winston Gutkowski wrote:Personally, I'm waiting for the first major app crash directly attributable to overuse (or misuse) of version 8 stuff...



You probably won't see that in a news report. However you could wait for the first appearance in the Daily WTF.
 
Don't get me started about those stupid light bulbs.
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