Functional Programming vs Object-Oriented Programming
Master the two dominant programming paradigms: pure functions, composition, and immutability versus objects, encapsulation, and inheritance — with a practical framework for when to use each.
Lessons
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Two Ways of Thinking
Programming paradigms: where behavior lives and how data moves, from imperative to declarative.
8 min -
The Heart of FP — Pure Functions
Determinism, side effects, and referential transparency — and why purity makes code testable, cacheable, and parallel-safe.
10 min -
Functions as Values
First-class functions, higher-order functions, map/filter/reduce, and closures — passing behavior around like data.
9 min -
Composition & Pipelines
Building programs as data flow: function composition, pipelines, and why small pure stages beat nested imperative logic.
10 min -
Immutability — State as a Value
Shared mutable state as the root of bugs, structural sharing, and the reducer pattern for managing state without mutation.
10 min -
The OOP Model — Objects All the Way Down
Encapsulation, abstraction, inheritance, and polymorphism: bundling state and behavior, and where OOP genuinely shines.
10 min -
Head-to-Head
Side-by-side comparison across state, testing, concurrency, reuse, and refactoring — plus the honest weaknesses of each paradigm.
10 min -
When to Use Which
A practical decision framework: FP-first problems, OOP-first problems, the functional core / imperative shell pattern, and ecosystem guidance.
12 min -
The Grand Quiz
18 questions covering every lesson, with a scored result and grade.
15 min