Last updated 8.1.2001 Index Courses held Traditional programming languages conform to the general architecture of computer systems, with its provision of assignment to variables whose values change while the program is running. This means that programs written in these languages must specify exactly the order in which those changes occur. This style of programming is imperative, that is, it explicitely states the order in which events must occur. An alternative is to consider languages which are declarative rather than imperative in style.
Recursion is a strong element in functional languages.
Together with other features this makes functional languages very powerful so that considerable designs can be expressed in a few lines. The student will learn and understand principles of functional programming and will be able to solve problems by using these.