Functional Programming Foundations

This unit introduces foundational functional programming concepts, core differences between declarative and procedural paradigms, and the essential development tools and environments for Haskell and Python. Students will learn basic data types and structures (lists, recursion, slicing), I/O and file handling (binary vs text, command-line input), and introductory debugging and dataset practices to prepare for subsequent, more advanced units.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze the core principles of functional programming and compare declarations and procedures, including historical context from lambda calculus and contrasts with other paradigms
• Apply and configure Haskell and Python development environments (e.g., GHC, Anaconda), execute programs via REPL and command line, and perform basic file I/O operations
• Demonstrate creation and manipulation of fundamental data types and structures—including lists, recursion, slicing, regular expressions, and distinctions between binary and textual data—using both Haskell and Python
• Evaluate simple Haskell and Python programs to identify and correct common bugs, and apply basic dataset validation and testing practices