There are two major paradigms in software development, Object Oriented Programming (OOP) and Functional Programming (FP) and each has their own principles and methodologies. The difference is in the emphasis of object focused OOP and pure function based FP, since their FP is all about pure functions and immutable data, emphasizing maths in reasoning and simplicity. Both paradigms do particular jobs, and solve problems in strangely different ways.
For modeling real world entities and relationships, OOP is ideal for classes and objects organization. Inheritance, polymorphism etc etc let you create code that is modular and reusable. This paradigm excels when there is a clear structure, e.g., enterprise applications that tightly bind data and behavior.
FP views computation as application of mathematical functions without changing program state and mutable data. The promises of FP are realized through the intangibles of higher order functions, recursion and immutability, so that the code is predictable and easy to test. The great strength of FP, as demonstrated here, is its ability to allow the capabilities of concurrent processing and operations on collections of data to be minimized.
The two paradigms also differ in their treatment of state and behavior. With OOP, state would be localized inside objects, behaviour would arise from the object’s methods and changes are localized. As against this, FP shuns mutable data and shared state, thereby avoiding code from changing or getting polluted and making functions pure that output something the same input.
And finally, there’s a problem and another problem and if you care about the problem you use OOP; if you consider the problem you use the FP. Systems with detailed entity relations and state require OOP, data transformation needs FP & parallel computing. By understanding the strengths of each paradigm developers can select the proper one for particular conditions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Object Oriented Programming (OOP) and Functional Programming (FP) both have their place when writing software, both have their advantages. By allowing for structured, modular systems that are easy to test and maintain (OOP), and increasingly reliable and scalable in data intensive or concurrent situations (FP), OOP and FP are ideal working languages for developing these systems. When developers know how each paradigm is different and have a feel for what each one can offer, they can make better decisions about which paradigm will best serve a project based on the requirements and the goals, so by all means, use the paradigm that will get the job done in an efficient and maintainable way.
