Functional Thinking

If you’re familiar with functional programming basics and want to gain a much deeper understanding, this in-depth guide takes you beyond syntax and demonstrates how you need to think in a new way. Software architect Neal Ford shows intermediate to advanced developers how functional coding allows you to step back a level of abstraction so you can see your programming problem with greater clarity.

Each chapter shows you various examples of functional thinking, using numerous code examples from Java 8 and other JVM languages that include functional capabilities. This book may bend your mind, but you’ll come away with a much better grasp of functional programming concepts.

• Understand why many imperative languages are adding functional capabilities
• Compare functional and imperative solutions to common problems
• Examine ways to cede control of routine chores to the runtime
• Learn how memoization and laziness eliminate hand-crafted solutions
• Explore functional approaches to design patterns and code reuse
• View real-world examples of functional thinking with Java 8, and in functional architectures and web frameworks
• Learn the pros and cons of living in a paradigmatically richer world

If you’re new to functional programming, check out Josh Backfield’s book Becoming Functional.