Is functional programming really worth it?
andrewcooke: i use python for anything that's not speed-critical.  see http://norvig.com/python-lisp.html (norvig being a very famous lisp programmer).my own experience is that learning functional programming gave me more options - that can be useful when solving problems.  when writing code for myself i try to combine the best of function, oo and procedural styles, while staying within "good taste" for the language i am using (sometimes i cannot choose the language).so yes it's worth it, but your question leans too much to extremes: it's not a silver bullet any more than oo was; it's a mental tool that does help in every-day programming.