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Learn Functional Programming in Python

Add functional programming to your toolbox without pretending Python is Haskell.

What will you learn?

Functional programming is back in vogue. There's a reason front-end frameworks like React and Vue are moving toward functional programming, and after this course you'll more than understand its benefits. We'll dive in-depth into all of the foundational concepts of functional programming in a familiar language.

Chapter List

1
What is Functional Programming?
Learn about the difference between OOP and functional styles, and what the real difference is: imperative vs. declarative
2
First-Class Functions
First-class and higher-order functions are foundational to everything we do in the functional paradigm.
3
Pure Functions
My favorite part of functional programming is the focus on pure functions that are easy to test and reason about
4
Recursion
While not unique to functional programming, recursion is a powerful tool that is used often when trying to avoid imperative code
5
Function Transformations
Learn how to transform functions into other functions to write more abstract and generalized code
6
Closures
Learn about encapsulating state within functions and how to use closures to write more expressive code
7
Currying
Learn to transform a function with multiple parameters into a series of functions with one parameter, and why you might want to do that
8
Decorators
Learn about Python's decorators and how they're essentially syntactic sugar for higher-order functions
9
Sum Types
Learn about sum types, a powerful way to represent data that is used in many functional languages

Join 36,423 students in the Learn Functional Programming in Python course

Read reviews of their learning experiences

Great course. Very challenging if new to coding like me. But rewarding once done. I highly recommend taking the time to do the training grounds lessons along the way.

(5/5)
Ken Hilliard profile image

Ken Hilliard

New Zealand

I learned a LOT! But man, some of the examples (I can't remember which off the top of my head) just felt poorly worded and I had to use Boots to break it down for me. And I still have a hard time conceptualizing the logic for recursive functions with dictionaries. Some of the lessons just feel too esoteric... or maybe I just don't have the patience.

(4/5)
Mireille C profile image

Mireille C

United States

A very useful course. Finally, I learned what decorators in Python do

(5/5)
Massimo  profile image

Massimo

Italy

That was hard, but amazing

(5/5)
João Rocha profile image

João Rocha

Brasil, Campo Grande

man this one was hard for some reason

(5/5)
christopher garcia profile image

christopher garcia

United States

Good continuation on the OG python course. Greatly broadened my overall understanding of real code.

(5/5)
Desmond Phillips profile image

Desmond Phillips

United States

good course

(5/5)
zechuan Wang profile image

zechuan Wang

Shanghai Institute of Technology

Hard at times, but feels even more satisfying when the whole thing clicks ! :D

(5/5)
Simon Thinggaard profile image

Simon Thinggaard

Denmark

The hardest topic so far for me. Gonna come back to it some time later to reinforce

(5/5)
Dzmitry Yafimau profile image

Dzmitry Yafimau

Ukraine

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Mediocrity doesn't cut it anymore

The only way to become a great developer is to write a lot of code

Avoid tutorial hell

by writing a ton of code

Stay motivated with

a game-like curriculum

Build portfolio projects

to prove your skills

Delve deeper

into foundational concepts

Learn flexibly online

without interrupting your life

For 1% the price of college

to minimize your financial risk

Frequently asked Questions

Got questions? We've got answers

Yes! It's free to create an account and start learning. You'll get all the immersive and interactive features for free for a few chapters. After that, if you still haven't paid for a membership, you'll be in read-only (content only) mode.