FP Forum: A Workshop on Functional Programming in JavaScript with Sanctuary

Tonight at FP Forum we are pleased to present a workshop led by David Chambers, the creator of Sanctuary (https://github.com/sanctuary-js/sanctuary), a JavaScript functional programming library inspired by Haskell and PureScript.

JavaScript is not a functional language, but its ubiquity makes it a good language for teaching and learning many FP concepts. There are several nicely designed functional languages which compile to JavaScript, such as Elm and PureScript. There is also a library, Sanctuary, which brings many functional programming features to JavaScript itself. Sanctuary emphasizes simplicity, purity, parametricity, and reusability (these terms will be explained during the session).

The creator of Sanctuary will share the problem he was trying to solve in 2014 and the inadequacy of the solutions that existed in the JavaScript ecosystem at the time. He will then introduce Sanctuary and show how types can be used to deal with uncertainty in a principled way. He will then present you with a challenge which is difficult to solve correctly with JavaScript's built-in data types but which can be solved simply and elegantly using the Maybe data type.

This is an interactive workshop, not a talk, so please bring your laptops and come prepared to participate, learn, and code!

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The mission of the Berlin Functional Programming Group is to make FP accessible to as broad an audience as possible. We primarily serve the needs of beginners to programming and to functional programming languages.

FP Forum is a regular gathering for current and aspiring functional programmers to meet, educate one another, collaborate on projects, and discuss ways to strengthen our community. Anyone is welcome to request or propose a topic or workshop. You are also welcome and encouraged to seek help with your FP studies and demonstrate practical applications of FP in your job or personal projects. FP Forum offers an informal, supportive, and low pressure environment for people to learn and grow, so come join us no matter your background or skill level!

Please note that we want attendees to get hands-on coding experience, so our focus is on practical activities, whether in large or small groups, rather than on talks or prepared presentations.