Advanced Functional Programming

The goal of functional programming is to write software that is efficient, scalable, and robust, all while maintaining a high level of abstraction. In this course we will investigate a number of techniques and language features that have been developed to apply functional programming to large-scale software projects. Concretely, we will discuss and apply the following topics:

• Efficiency of functional programs: purely functional data structures, controlling lazy evaluation, persistence and amortization, parallel and concurrent functional programming.

• Scalability of functional programs: monad transformers, free monads, and effect systems, lenses and optics, embedded domain-specific languages, generic programming.

• Robustness of functional programs: type-level programming, generalized algebraic datatypes, refinement types, security types.

In the course project, you will apply these concepts and techniques to implement a type checker for a small language with an advanced type system, such as a dependent type system or an ownership type system.