Introduction to functional programming
by Bird, Richard · first published 1988
78% recommend22% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Language-agnostic introduction to functional programming that also covers algorithms and efficient data structures. The first edition is the one to seek out, and it suits those new to the paradigm.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
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…because I noticed that this submission, like another submission that made the front page of HN twice in the past two days [0], touches on the same material as Ch. 6 of Richard Bird and Philip Wadler's book Introduction to Functional Programming [1], which I happened to be re-reading a couple of nights ago. And I want to tell you to go read it. Really, if you find this sort of thing interesting, you should read it. The book isn't strictly a…
on “Folds and parallelism” ↗…introductory book on functional programming written with Philip Wadler [2] introduces the technique, which is usually called "program calculation". (Though published in 1988, their book remains a great introduction to functional programming.) If you really want to go off the deep end, Jeremy Gibbons's extensive lectures notes, published as a book chapter [3], are the best source I know. (Beware: here be category theory.) 0. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Referential_transparency…
on “Total Functional Programming [pdf]” ↗Talking about books I would recommend Introduction to Functional Programming 1st edition (Prentice Hall 1988 -- the second, paradoxically, is "spoiled" by Haskell), by Bird and Wadler.
on “The Haskell Road to Logic, Maths and Programming” ↗…[] = [] quicksort (p:xs) = (quicksort lesser) ++ [p] ++ (quicksort greater) where lesser = filter (< p) xs greater = filter (>= p) xs Bird & Wadler is a great introduction to functional programming as well as algorithms and efficient data structures. http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Functional-Programming-In... (blimey, I had no idea my old copy was now so valuable!)
on “I am a great programmer, but horrible algorithmist” ↗Richard Bird, Philip Wadler - Introduction to Functional Programming http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Functional-Programming-In... Richard Bird - Pearls of Functional Algorithm Design http://www.amazon.com/Pearls-Functional-Algorithm-Design-Ric... Christian Queinnec…
on “Ask HN: What's the best programming book you've read recently?” ↗Another (old) gem that I feel like suggesting to anyone interested in this topic is 'Introduction to Functional Programming' by Philip Wadler and Richard Bird, which is also available online for free: https://usi-pl.github.io/lc/sp-2015/doc/Bird_Wadler.%20Intro...
on “A Short Introduction to the Lambda Calculus (2004) [pdf]” ↗If you can find a copy, the first edition of ‘Introduction to Functional Programming’ by Richard Bird covers the concepts of functional programming in a language-agnostic way.
on “Functional Programming in OCaml” ↗Introduction to functional programming 1st edition by Richard Bird
on “Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?” ↗Thinking Functionally with Haskell, Richard Bird, 2015 [0] states The first edition was titled 'Introduction to Functional Programming', and was co-authored with Phil Wadler. It was published in 1988. This is the one linked and free available. The second edition was titled Introduction to 'Functional Programming using Haskell', published…
on “Introduction to Functional Programming (1988) [pdf]” ↗1. I’ve read that the first edition of Philip Wadler’s and Richard Bird’s Introduction to Functional Programming is better than the second edition, but having read neither, I can’t give an opinion one way or the other. 2. I have deep respect for older editions of Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines, particularly…
on “Older editions of which books were better than the new ones? (2010)” ↗