Functional Applications and Data Manipulation

This unit develops students’ ability to build, run, and troubleshoot small functional applications in Python and Haskell while applying core functional programming constructs. Students work with higher-order functions, lambdas, pattern matching, type classes, data organization, and file/binary I/O, and integrate libraries and simple GUIs to prepare for capstone integration in the final unit.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze and compare functional programming constructs (lambda functions, higher-order functions, pattern matching, and recursion) across Python and Haskell and identify appropriate use cases for each
• Apply functional techniques to perform common list and dataset manipulations, filter and handle missing data, and organize data using alternatives to dictionaries and sets
• Demonstrate the ability to create, compile, and run small applications in Python and Haskell that use external libraries (e.g., PyQtGraph, TkInter, vector), perform file and binary I/O, and manipulate file content
• Evaluate and troubleshoot common recursion and type-related errors and design simple Haskell type classes to improve code reuse and correctness