In this course you will learn how to apply the functional programming style in the design of larger Scala applications. You'll get to know important new functional programming concepts, from lazy evaluation to structuring your libraries using monads. We'll work on larger and more involved examples, from state space exploration to random testing to discrete circuit simulators. You’ll also learn some best practices on how to write good Scala code in the real world. Finally, you will learn how to leverage the ability of the compiler to infer values from types.
This course is part of the Functional Programming in Scala Specialization
Offered By


About this Course
What you will learn
Recognize and apply design principles of functional programs
Design functional libraries and their APIs
Write simple functional reactive applications
Understand reasoning techniques for programs that combine functions and state
Skills you will gain
- Laziness
- Type Class
- Functional Programming
- Referential Transparency
- Reactive Programming
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
For Expressions and Monads
We'll start by revisiting some concepts that we have learned from Principles of Functional Programming in Scala; collections, pattern matching, and functions. We'll then touch on for-comprehensions, a powerful way in Scala to traverse a list, process it, and return a new list. We'll see how to do queries with for-comprehensions as well as how the for-comprehension is "desugared" into calls to higher-order functions by the Scala compiler. Finally, we'll discuss what monads are, and how to verify that the monad laws are satisfied for a number of examples.
Lazy Evaluation
This week we'll revisit performance issues caused by combinatorial search, and we'll discover an important concept in functional programming that can address these issues: laziness. We'll also learn a little bit about proofs on trees; in particular, we'll see how to extend structural induction to trees.
Type-Directed Programming
This week, we’ll learn how to make the compiler write programs for us! We’ll see how the compiler can summon program fragments based on their type and how this mechanism can be used to implement a new form of polymorphism (type classes).
Functions and State
This week, we'll learn about state and side-effects. Through a rich example, we'll learn programming patterns for managing state in larger programs. We'll also learn about for-loops and while-loops in Scala.
Reviews
- 5 stars66.17%
- 4 stars24.10%
- 3 stars7.62%
- 2 stars1.64%
- 1 star0.45%
TOP REVIEWS FROM FUNCTIONAL PROGRAM DESIGN IN SCALA
There's a lot to chew on here, and it's well-articulated. Some of the examples are a bit opaque and academic - a little more of a practical, intuitive approach would go a long way.
i thought i knew scala at the time. but i had trouble putting the pieces together. this course really helped me understand how the various parts can be used together in practice.
Great experience with the assignments. Took some time to get understand all the course materials. Highly recommended. Still can learn a lot after reading fpins
I got even more functional programming knowledge effectively. I also got an Excel or more like Google Sheet core in source code with the Week 5 programming task.
About the Functional Programming in Scala Specialization
Discover how to write elegant code that works the first time it is run.

Frequently Asked Questions
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
Is financial aid available?
More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.