Does functional programming work?

[Walter Bright]

Nick Sabalausky wrote:
> "Walter Bright" <newshound1 at digitalmars.com> wrote in message 
> news:hhgvqk$8cj$2 at digitalmars.com...
>> An interesting counterpoint to the usual FP hype:
>>
>> http://prog21.dadgum.com/55.html
> 
> Didn't read the original article, but the one being linked to is completely 
> in line with how I feel about not just FP, but all programming paradigms, 
> for example, OO: It's great as long as you don't pull a Java or (worse yet) 
> a Smalltalk and try to cram *everything* into the paradigm.

I agree, the old programming-language-as-religion problem. I first ran 
into this when I read the original Pascal book, and became enamored with 
it. I tried doing a modest project in Pascal using a pure Pascal compiler.

80% went smoothly, the other 20% spent wrestling with the nanny language 
tsk-tsking consumed nearly 100% of the time spend on the project. I just 
couldn't get things that had to be done, done, as the language would 
shut off all the avenues.

When I then picked up K+R C, I never wrote another line of Pascal. It so 
soured me on Pascal that I never got on the later bandwagons of Modula 
II, Delphi, TurboPascal, etc. Never even looked at them.