Things I wish someone had explained about functional programming

Innovation in cloud platforms as well as some resurgence of more esoteric languages have brought functional programming more popularity. It’s a good reminder that this isn't just another language, this is another way of thinking.

Learning functional programming is different. It’s more than some extra concepts that slot in with what you already know. No, functional programming is a whole new way to think about programming. If you come from an OOP or imperative background, it turns a lot of received wisdom on its head. Things that you thought were bad ideas turn out to be good ideas. Things that you thought were convenient and clever turn out to be problematic. Or plain impossible.

Beware, there be dragons there. 🐉