<p>What are some good references, not very dense, to understand the underlying math and computability aspects of the notion of "functional programming"? I'd like to have something that talks about it from a math point of view and if/when I learn a functional programming language I can have the necessary "aha" moments when seeing the ideas being implemented.</p>

<p>I've read SICP, but that's Scheme specific and is a dense read. I don't really "get" functional programming after reading it and was looking for something more sublime and closer to the underlying math and computability points of views.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-22T02:04:20.430Z
Try http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0954300696
Chad Brewbaker
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-22T03:42:15.933Z
Don't mind trying that. In fact, everything "functional/lambda" I stumble on to Haskell references
PhD
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-22T13:15:03.280Z
I didn't think it was bad for learning the syntax. The "ah ha" moments are realizing you can do away with a lot of control structure boiler plate needed in C, that semigroups/monoids are everywhere http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMY1KVrJk0w , and that you can compose IO in an associative manner like Unix pipes (IO monads). Also, check out Kmett's lens library https://github.com/ekmett/lens which is great for querying nested lists in a way you would probably never do in C.
Chad Brewbaker
<reference-request><big-list><books>
Good references for understanding the underlying abstractions/ideas of functional programming?
PhD
# Good references for understanding the underlying abstractions/ideas of functional programming?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-03-21)

What are some good references, not very dense, to understand the underlying math and computability aspects of the notion of "functional programming"? I'd like to have something that talks about it from a math point of view and if/when I learn a functional programming language I can have the necessary "aha" moments when seeing the ideas being implemented.

I've read SICP, but that's Scheme specific and is a dense read. I don't really "get" functional programming after reading it and was looking for something more sublime and closer to the underlying math and computability points of views.

**Tags:** reference-request, big-list, books

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Try http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0954300696  
> **username_0**: Don't mind trying that. In fact, everything "functional/lambda" I stumble on to Haskell references  
> **username_1**: I didn't think it was bad for learning the syntax. The "ah ha" moments are realizing you can do away with a lot of control structure boiler plate needed in C, that semigroups/monoids are everywhere http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMY1KVrJk0w , and that you can compose IO in an associative manner like Unix pipes (IO monads). Also, check out Kmett's lens library https://github.com/ekmett/lens which is great for querying nested lists in a way you would probably never do in C.  

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## 0 answers

