Could Functional Programming be called Algebraic Programming?
Lately as I’ve been writing and editing Functional Programming, Simplified: Updated for Scala 3, I’ve had the thought, could Functional Programming be called Algebraic Programming? That is, is algebraic programming a more accurate term for this style of programming?
Yes, FP is about pure functions, HOFs, and functions as values, but it’s also about domain modeling (ADTs), immutable variables (algebraic) and immutable data, errors as values, and EOP (expressions as equations).
Other notes:
- Functional programmers also use the term “blueprint” a lot, so that’s another possible name.
- To be clear, I’m not calling for a name change or anything like that, just observing that Algebraic Programming may be a more accurate name.