> A lot of languages have functional features but are not “purely” functional.
That was my first thought. I work mostly in Java because that's what they pay me to do, but I've almost never worked with a Java programmer who could actually write Java code using the OO features that the language is based around. When I see their Scala code... it's mostly var, rarely val, because it's easy to think about.
> I've almost never worked with a Java programmer who could actually write Java code using the OO features that the language is based around
I don't understand this. The language is based around primitive, flawed, simplistic OO features, right? Like "class Dog : Animal"? I never write code like that either, because it's bad practice. But you're saying they can't write code like that? Or that they don't use classes at all? How can you even write any Java that way?
As much as they can avoid it, yes. The only classes I ever see are those that are auto-generated from some JSON or ORM processing tool - everything else is a static function.
Unfortunately, a lot of Java programmers write imperative code in Java.
Although I have seen "good" Java programmers write "good clean code", it's the exception, rather than the norm. Most of the good Java programmers that I know have moved on to better languages and platforms.
Whenever I see "interesting" object modeling beyond very basic inheritance, I groan. I've never experienced it being worth the hassle (templates, factories, etc..).
But my code is flush with collection.stream().filter().map().collect() etc.
I was initially critical of it in code reviews (coming from C), but have been totally converted.
Templates (I assume you mean Generics, if we're talking Java?) aren't worth the hassle, but your code is flush with .filter() and .map()? Which rely entirely on generics to provide any typing support at all? You should learn to embrace generics; they're absolutely critical for the code you just said you write, and more. And they are most certainly not going away.
That was my first thought. I work mostly in Java because that's what they pay me to do, but I've almost never worked with a Java programmer who could actually write Java code using the OO features that the language is based around. When I see their Scala code... it's mostly var, rarely val, because it's easy to think about.