Chapter 13
Functional Thinking and Haskell

by Paul Callaghan

How do functional programmers think? I aim to give you a glimpse into the programming style and mindset of experienced functional programmers, so you can see why we are so passionate about what we do. Few of these ideas get the exposure they deserve in textbooks or tutorials, and in my view they are essential for coming to grips with a functional language and using it productively in real apps.

Most of what I’ll say will refer to Haskell, though many of the ideas do apply to other functional languages as well.