10 Functional Programming Tips Every C# Developer Should Know

Functional programming

I remember the first time I stumbled upon the term “functional programming” while coding in C#. It sounded intimidating, but then I gave it a shot, and let me tell you, it was something new.

We’re going to walk through 10 functional programming tips that have seriously helped me writing C# code. These aren’t just fancy tricks; they’re practical, hands-on tweaks that make code cleaner, more efficient, and honestly, more fun to write.

Let’s dive in!

Immutability

Immutability is a core concept in functional programming (FP) and is crucial for writing robust and maintainable C# code. In FP, immutability is about creating new instances of data with the desired changes rather than updating data in place.

This approach ensures that functions are pure, meaning their output is determined solely by their input, without any side effects.

Code examples:

Creating New Instances Instead of Mutating

var originalList = new List<int> { 1, 2, 3 };
var newList = originalList.Append(4).ToList();