I think I struggle to learn a lot of functional programming concepts now because it's even more distant and abstract explanations. I've come across this a lot.

I think I struggle to learn a lot of functional programming concepts now because it's even more distant and abstract explanations. I've come across this a lot. Some people (like you perhaps) view computing in terms of machines, and others in terms of mathematics and formalism. (I'm lazy and lack principle, so I will go with whatever interpretation is easiest.) FWIW, I've met at least one incredibly smart person from both camps. If you're into compilers at all, you might appreciate this[1] - how the "machine tribe" and "lambda tribe" view the same thing. [1] https://wingolog.org/archives/2011/07/12/static-single-assignment-for-functional-programmers https://wingolog.org/archives/2011/07/12/static-single-assig...