I'm an OO-generation programmer. Started proper programming education with Java (although I did touch on VB6 briefly), and temporarily stopped proper programming job with Java. For someone like me, functional language is both evil and ingenious. I've been using ocaml this semester with one of the compiler/programming language course, and I am enjoying it and hating it at the same time. It was one of my biggest regret not taking compiler course back in undergraduate years and so when I was told that I MUST take one compiler related course at UIUC, I was glad - because had I given a choice, I might have opted for some other course that is more related to my research area.
So, I'm awed by the simplicity and yet DUH-ness of syntax in functional language and its flexibility (in terms of what you can write without crashing and burning). But can I imagine functional language being used in the industry? hmm perhaps not. Dave Thomas in his seminar last week mentioned something about this; It is the industry that is not ready for the functional language, not the other way around. But I have to say, I can't imagine myself or any other ordinary (run-of-the-mill if I may be cynical) programmer sitting there trying to write/debug a big-ass application with pure functional language. Then my clueless wondering reaches one question - is there anything that will surpass the concept of Object-Oriented language? Now that will be an interesting research area...
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