Learn Functional Programming Without Fear: A former Java/OOP teacher takes you to the cusp of using Scala’s FP libraries

SALE! This book has been priced so that Mr. Alexander makes just $5 per copy.

From Scala’s Highly-Rated Author!

Learn functional programming (FP) the fast way in this small, easy-to-read book by Alvin Alexander. Don’t let this book’s low price fool you, because Alvin is the author of: The best-selling, highly-rated Functional Programming, Simplified Two editions of the Scala Cookbook Learn Scala 3 The Fast Way! A primary author of the Scala 3 Book on the official Scala websiteWhile he could easily charge $50, this book is priced low because it’s Alvin’s desire to make FP as easy to learn as possible for all developers.

Written for OOP Developers

While Alvin has written over 1,000 pages about FP, he recently discovered this new, simpler technique to help OOP developers learn FP fast — in 250 pages!
If you’re an OOP developer who uses programming languages like Java or Kotlin and you want to learn FP, this book is written especially for you. Alvin is a former Java/OOP instructor and mentor, and he uses Kotlin for Android apps, and started creating the Kotlin Quick Reference booklet.

Emphasis on Simple

A great thing about this book is its simplicity. As “Uncle” Bob Martin tweeted about a book he wants to write, this means: No functors No monoids No monads (okay, 1, at the end of the book) No category theory at all!Just programming and problem-solving, in a simple, easy to read style.
A Little Book, A Huge Goal
This simple little book has an audacious goal: To help OOP developers who use languages like Java, Kotlin, Python, Swift, and C++ learn the concepts that take you to the cusp of using Scala’s two main FP libraries: Cats Effect and ZIO.
To be clear, when we say “the cusp” of using those FP libraries, when you finish the book, you should be able to look at the initial examples in the ZIO and Cats Effect documentation and think, “I know what they’re doing, and I know why they’re doing it.”

This book is written in a simple, conversational style, as though Alvin is sitting next to you in a pair programming session, or mentoring you in a small classroom. If you’re an experienced OOP developer, you should be able to read it over a weekend, a few nights, or a week at most.

The Book’s Journey

The book starts with a discussion of the Java/OOP code Alvin wrote (and taught) for 15 years. He then shows how to solve programming problems using these techniques: Pure functions Immutable (algebraic) variables Immutable data structuresAfter comparing this code to his previous Java/OOP code, it’s off to the races as he adds in: Expression-oriented programming (EOP) Functional error handling with Option, Try, and Either
After that, he shows how these techniques naturally lead to the concepts in the ZIO and Cats Effect libraries.

This is important: None of this is that hard! As Alvin writes in Functional Programming, Simplified, if you had been interested in these techniques many years ago, you might have invented FP yourself.
Who’s Using FP?

If you’re just curious about FP, it may help to know that if you have a Disney Streaming account in 2022, you’re a consumer of FP code written in Scala — what Alvin calls “Scala/FP.”
Similarly, if you have online financial accounts, read online news sites, or use a gambling site like Caesars, you’re also consuming content generated by Scala/FP code. Because of the concepts you’ll see in this book, FP code is trusted, rock-solid, and is used in massively-parallel programming environments.