Summary

Functional programming is gaining in popularity as we move to an increasingly parallel world. Sometimes you want access to purely functional syntax and capabilities but you don’t want to have to learn an entirely new language. Coconut is here to help! This week Evan Hubinger explains how Coconut is a functional language that compiles to Python and can be mixed and matched with the rest of your program.

Preface

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• Your host as usual is Tobias Macey and today I’m interviewing Evan Hubinger about Coconut, a functional language implemented as a superset of Python

Interview

• Introductions
• How did you get introduced to Python?
• Can you start by explaining what Coconut is and what problem you were trying to solve when you created it?
  • Where did the name come from?
• How is Coconut implemented and what does the compilation process for Coconut code look like?
• How will I be able to debug my Python if I’m not the one writing it?
• The documentation mentions that Coconut itself is compatible with both Python 2 and 3, are there any caveats to be aware of in terms of mixing in standard Python syntax?
• Are there any performance optimizations that you have had to perform in order to make things like recursion and pattern matching work at reasonable speeds in the Python VM?
• Which functional languages have you taken inspiration from during the creation of Coconut?
• What are some of the most interesting or unexpected uses of Coconut that you have seen?
• What are some resources that you recommend for people who are interested in learning more about functional programming?

Keep In Touch

• Coconut
  • Website
  • GitHub
  • Tutorial
  • Documentation
  • FAQ
  • Chat room
• Evan
  • GitHub
  • LinkedIn

Picks

• Tobias
  • ElementTree
• Evan
  • pyparsing is an awesome PyPI package you should check out

The intro and outro music is from Requiem for a Fish The Freak Fandango Orchestra / CC BY-SA