Gain insights into functional programming in Python, learn about functions as objects, recursion, closures, and generators, and discover how to confidently apply these concepts to your projects.

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The functional programming paradigm can be a powerful tool, especially as it can be integrated seamlessly with procedural and object-oriented code in Python. 

In this course, you’ll learn what functional programming is, how it’s used, and the features of Python that support it. To start, you’ll learn how functions act as objects, the role of mutability, and how to perform recursion. 

In the latter half of the course, you’ll focus on closures, iterables & iterators, generators, and more. Throughout the course will be three exams which will test your understanding and really drive home what you’ve learned.  

By the end, you’ll have a new programming paradigm to add under your belt and have the confidence to start using functional programming in your own projects.

Learn Functional Programming in Python

# Aliasing

Aliasing is when two different variables reference the same object in Python. For example, consider this code:

t = (10, 20, 30, 40, 50) 
u = t 
print(t[2]) # 30 
print(u[2]) # 30 


We assign a tuple value to variable `t` in `line 1`. This means that `t` holds a reference to the tuple object. The tuple itself is stored in memory somewhere. 

When we set `u = t` in `line 2`, we are actually copying the reference into the variable, `u`. We don’t create a copy of the actual tuple itself. There is only one tuple, but both `t` and `u` point to it, so we call them aliases – different names for the same data. When we then print `t[2]` and `u[2]`, they both refer to the element at index 2 in the original tuple. 

In the earlier example, we saw that `square` is just a variable that holds a reference to a function object – a function that calculates the square of `x`. We can create an alias for that, too: 

Learn how aliasing works in Python and how it is used in functional programming.

Introduction

Functions as Objects

Mutability

Recursion

Functional Programming in Python - Exam 1

Closures

Iterators

Transforming Iterables

Reducing Iterables

Functional Programming in Python - Exam 2

Comprehensions

Generators

Partial Application and Currying

Functors and Monads

Functional Programming in Python - Exam 3

Useful Libraries

Conclusion

Aliases

Aliasing