Functional Programming Cheatsheet JavaScript (ES6)


Simple ES6 cheatsheet for functional programming

Posted by on 02 May 2018

Functional Programming with JavaScript (ES6)

Functional programming is a style that treats computation as the evaluation of mathematical functions and avoids changing-state and mutable data.

Arrow Functions (Fat Arrows)

Arrow functions create a concise expression that encapsulates a small piece of functionality. Additionally, arrows retain the scope of the caller inside the function eliminating the need of self = this.

Example

  const multiply = function(x,y) {
    return x * y;
  }
  // Can be rewritten as:
  const multiply = (x, y) => { return x * y };
  // Since the function is a single expression return and braces are not needed.
  const multiply = (x, y) => x * y;
  console.log(multiply(5,10)) //50

Read more at MDN Arrow_functions

Function Delegates

Function delegates encapsulate a method allowing functions to be composed or passed as data.

Example


const isZero = n => n === 0;
const a = [0,1,0,3,4,0];
console.log(a.filter(isZero).length); // 3

Expressions Instead of Statements

Statements define an action and are executed for their side effect. Expressions produce a result without mutating state.

Statement (bad)

const getSalutation = function(hour) {
 var salutation; // temp value
 if (hour < 12) {
 	salutation = "Good Morning";
 }
 else {
 	salutation = "Good Afternoon"
 }
 	return salutation; // mutated value
 }
 

Expression (good)

const getSalutation = (hour) => hour < 12 ? "Good Morning" : "Good Afternoon";
console.log(getSalutation(10)); // Good Morning

Higher Order Functions

A function that accepts another function as a parameter, or returns another function.

Example

function mapConsecutive(values, fn) {
 let result = [];
 for(let i=0; i < values.length -1; i++) {
 	result.push(fn(values[i], values[i+1]));
 }
 return result;
}

const letters = ['a','b','c','d','e','f','g'];

let twoByTwo = mapConsecutive(letters, (x,y) => [x,y]);
console.log(twoByTwo);
// [[a,b], [b,c], [c,d], [d,e], [e,f], [f,g]]

Currying

Currying allows a function with multiple arguments to be translated into a sequence of functions. Curried functions can be tailored to match the signature of another function.

Example


const convertUnits = (toUnit, factor, offset = 0) => 
	input => ((offset + input) * factor).toFixed(2).concat(toUnit);

const milesToKm = convertUnits('km', 1.60936, 0);
const poundsToKg = convertUnits('kg', 0.45460, 0);
const farenheitToCelsius = convertUnits('degrees C', 0.5556, -32);

milesToKm(10); //"16.09 km"
poundsToKg(2.5); //"1.14 kg"
farenheitToCelsius(98); //"36.67 degrees C"
const weightsInPounds = [5,15.4,9.8, 110];

// without currying
const weightsInKg = weightsInPounds.map(x => convertUnits('kg', 0.45460,
0)(x));
// with currying
const weightsInKg = weightsInPounds.map(poundsToKg);
// 2.27kg, 7.00kg, 4.46kg, 50.01kg

Array Manipulation Functions

Array Functions are the gateway to functional programming in JavaScript. These functions make short work of most imperative programming routines that work on arrays and collections.

[].every(fn) Checks if all elements in an array pass a test.

[].some(fn) | [].includes(fn) Checks if any of the elements in an array pass a test.

[].find(fn) Returns the value of the first element in the array that passes a test.

[].filter(fn) Creates an array filled with only the array elements that pass a test.

[].map(fn) Creates a new array with the results of a function applied to every element in the array.

[].reduce(fn(accumulator, currentValue)) Executes a provided function for each value of the array (from left-to-right). Returns a single value, the accumulator.

[].sort(fn(a,b)) warning, mutates state! Modifies an array by sorting the items within an array. An optional compare function can be used to customize sort behavior.

[...arr].sort() Use the spread operator to avoid mutation.

[].reverse() warning, mutates state! Reverses the order of the elements in an array. Use the spread operator to avoid mutation. [...arr].reverse()

Few useful librariries for Data Manipulation:

Method Chaining

Method chains allow a series of functions to operate in succession to reach a final result. Method chains allow function composition similar to a pipeline.

Example


let cart = [
	{name: "Drink", price: 3.12},
	{name: "Steak", price: 45.15},
	{name: "Drink", price: 11.01}
];

let drinkTotal = cart.filter(x=> x.name === "Drink")
 .map(x=> x.price)
 .reduce((t,v) => t +=v)
 .toFixed(2);

console.log(Total Drink Cost $${drinkTotal}); // Total Drink Cost $14.13

Pipelines

A pipeline allows for easy function composition when performing multiple operations on a variable. Since JavaScript lacks a Pipeline operator, a design pattern can be used to accomplish the task.

Example

const pipe = functions => data => {
	return functions.reduce( (value, func) => func(value), data);
};

let cart = [3.12, 45.15, 11.01];
const addSalesTax = (total, taxRate) => (total * taxRate) + total;

const tally = orders => pipe([
 x => x.reduce((total, val) => total + val), // sum the order
 x => addSalesTax(x, 0.09),
 x => `Order Total = ${x.toFixed(2)}` // convert to text
])(orders);
// Order Total = 64.62

Like us to show some Love: