Why is smalltalk not a functional programming language?

Question

With the renewed interest in functional programming languages, I\'ve seen some similitudes between Smalltalk and FPL, namely closures ( BlockClosures in Smalltalk ) Yet, Sm

Answer 1

There's no accepted definition of functional programming language.

If you define functional language as the language that supports first class functions, then yes, Smalltalk *is* a functional language.

If you also consider the factors like support for immutability, algebraic data types, pattern matching, partial application etc then no, Smalltalk *is not* a functional language.

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I'd encourage you to read the following related blog posts (and also the comments below them):

• Scala is not a functional language

• Erlang is not functional

• Reddit discussion on "Erlang is not functional"