How Functional Languages Help To Write Better Blockchain Codes?

• Functional Programming Languages (FPL) have several features which make them better to write blockchain codes.
• Haskell, Erlang, and OCaml are some popular FPLs present now. 

Blockchain technology was researched in the 1990s and has seen its implication at the beginning of the 2010s. The last decade witnessed the immense potential of the technology which is reflected in the numerous applications built around it. Today, its use case ranges from Web3 gaming, the financial sector, cryptocurrencies, healthcare, and much more. 

The early blockchain programs were written using object-oriented programming languages (OOP) which included Python, Ruby, C++, and others. These focussed on the ‘how’ of a problem. Although highly efficient, the evolution of technology paved the path for another class of programming languages, which will best suit the design of blockchain programs because of their inherent features. 

Functional Programming Languages (FPLs) focus on the ‘what’ of a problem and composing functions is the main engine driving them. The data is immutable and it uses recursions compared to the user of loops in OOP. They support parallel programming and neglect the execution order of statements. Let’s look at some FPLs which are currently used to write blockchain protocols. 

FPL for Blockchain

Haskell

The pure functional programming language comes with a user-friendly syntax and is based on Lambda calculus. It has a wide collection of libraries and outstanding tooling. There are several educational resources for beginners and support materials to help them in different stages of coding. The informative style and strong typing make it a better choice for developing high-performing applications. 

Erlang

The language has been used for more than 30 years in the telecommunication industry and about 90% of traffic goes through computer nodes based on Erlang language. It supports multithreading, garbage collecting and uses a virtual machine. The pattern-matching feature allows developers to write clear and compact programs. It primarily concentrates on judging expressions which, in turn, depend on functions to get basic values. Back-end systems require features of real-time response, non-stop operation, support for heavy concurrent activity, and fault tolerance. Erlang’s inbuilt design helps its use in developing back-end systems. 

OCaml

Several features of this FPL include parametric polymorphism (also called generics), tail recursion (where the last statement to be executed is a recursive call), and pattern matching. Others include exception handling, first-class lexical closures, and garbage collector features (to enable automatic memory management). The codes written run faster and smoother compared to those written in Java or other OOP and even consume less memory. Any coding bug is removed instantly because of its inherent static type system. 

Blockchains Currently Using FPL

Tezos

The decentralised blockchain platform implements the OCaml to achieve high speed and clear syntax. The consensus mechanism used is Liquid Proof of Stake (LPoS) which is a little tweaked form of Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS). The platform depends on self-governance to make decisions for future upgrades and features. It also helps developers to work in an environment of formal proofs, helping them to mathematically figure out the correctness of their smart contract. 

Cardano

The platform uses its special version of consensus called the Ouroboros, which is a slight customisation of Proof of Stake (PoS). The open-source, decentralised platform is written using the Haskell language. It also uses another purely functional programming language, Plutus, for its smart contracts. Plutus comes with strong static types and its syntax is almost similar to the Haskel language. 

Conclusion

As more developers are joining the blockchain marathon, they are looking for solutions to eradicate the existing challenges faced by most networks. The issues of scalability, fault tolerance, and stability can be addressed by the inherent elements of FPLs. Distributed ledger technology (DLT) and smart contracts surely have far more use cases than currently realised and FPLs can help them achieve their maximum potential.