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Using Ocaml to learn FP. What FP concepts should I touch on? (lemy.lol)

submitted 9 months ago by matcha_addict@lemy.lol to c/programming@programming.dev

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cross-posted from: https://lemy.lol/post/19181146

I just started to learn Ocaml to learn functional programming. I will use it to build a CLI that's mostly orchestrating other programs.

My experience is mostly in JS / TS, but I've also coded a good bit in Python and Lua.

Below, I provided a list of things I learned or focused on while using OCaml. But I feel like I must be missing something. This is only moderately different from what I'm used to in JS. I expected something more radical. Moreover, I constantly hear a lot of FP jargon (like "highly kinded types", monads, etc) that I feel am still missing.

So far, here's what I studied:

immutability

avoid side affects

static typing

recursion instead of loops

option / maybe

higher order functions

conditionals and other constructs as expressions, when they're statements in other languages

pipelines and functions as input —> output

currying

scoping with let

What am I missing?

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[–] matcha_addict@lemy.lol 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

My fear with Haskell is that I will end up trying to learn category theory, which will be a much bigger time sink. But I suppose it is the natural next step.

Thanks for the pointer on the module system! I'll study that next.

[–] solrize@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

CT as used in Haskell isn't a big deal. I found that it demystified a lot so was worth looking into, but really, it's optional. This tutorial is good:

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Haskell/Category_theory

Even more optional, after the above try this:

https://www.haskellforall.com/2012/08/the-category-design-pattern.html