

Functional programming can be defined as a style of programming paradigm in which we try to combine everything in pure mathematical functions. Basically, it is a declarative type of paradigm style. It is unique as compared to other programming paradigms as it is based on mathematical functions.
Furthermore, its main focus is “what to solve” and, in contrast to an imperative style where the main focus is “how to solve”. Moreover, these programming languages are specifically designed to handle symbolic computations and list processing applications. Also, some of the popular functional programming languages include: Lisp, Python, Erlang, Haskell, Clojure, etc.
CHARACTERISTICS –
Some of the most important and specific characteristics of functional programming are as follows :
ADVANTAGES –
Functional programming provides the following advantages:
As a down point, functional programming requires a large memory space. The main reason is that it does not have state, you need to create new objects each and every time to perform actions.
More specifically, Functional Programming is applied in situations where we need to perform numerous of different operations on homogenous set of data.
CATEGORISATION –
Functional programming languages can be categorized into two groups that are stated below –
Most relevantly, an efficient functional programming code can reduce resource consumption and completion time as much as possible with minimum risk to the operating environment.
IMPORTANT CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGIES –
Before one becomes an expert in functional programming, there are some important and specific concepts that one needs to understand :
• Pure functions
• Function composition
• Shared states
• Recursion
• Referential transparency
• Functions are First-Class and can be Higher-Order
• Variables are Immutable
CONCLUSION –
Working in the web development industry surely requires adaptability. The more we know, the more opportunities we'll have for advancing and strengthening our career. If you won’t keep expanding your set of skills, you could find yourself unable to compete in the job market full of competition.
If you’re looking for a way to write code more specifically, concisely, concurrently and even want to improve the performance of your code in an efficient way, learning how to use functional programming will be beneficial definitely.