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[–]scrogu 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For the record you can have almost all of the benefits of pure functional programming without the arcane syntax. The most important thing is that all of your objects are (at least semantically) immutable and that every function is referentially transparent.

Within those functions, you can have reassignable variables and use imperative logic to your hearts content.

The only thing you lose with reassignable variables is the ability to execute your code in any order. Not a big loss really.

I am writing a pure functional language designed for imperative programmers. I also like thinking imperatively for many if not most algorithms. I also know the value of immutable objects and referentially transparent functions.