In contrast to the usual imperative languages (e.g., C, Fortran, and Ada), in which variables represent cells in memory that can be modified using the assignment operator = (or :=), functional languages view the use of the = operator as
Computer Science as a scholarly discipline.
Google Scholar tells me that “Why Functional Programming Matters” was published in 1989 and has been cited over 1000 times. Here’s a quote. Recall that a complete functional program is just a function from its input to its output. If
Current reading
Wadler’s influential “monads” paper for Haskell. It seems like a classic case of making something simple sound profound and mysterious. And companion paper by Hughes on “why functional programming matters” . See also some comments above. McCarthy’s original LISP paper. Just