I've used F# for real non toy code (admittedly years ago so my memory is very hazy, and being a beginner my code likely relied on too many c#isms), and I unfort

I've used F# for real non toy code (admittedly years ago so my memory is very hazy, and being a beginner my code likely relied on too many c#isms), and I unfortunately found this article impenetrable, so I agree. Part of it is that Im not familiar with what an Initial Algebra is, and writing a calculator seems very abstract compared to actual code Im likely to write. Looking up the definition on wikipedia definitely didn't help: "In mathematics, an initial algebra is an initial object in the category of F-algebras for a given endofunctor F". Oof, I think I would need semesters worth of higher level university math to even begin to understand that. I'm probably just not the target audience for this, but I frequently think people avoid functional languages because they (appear to) require an understanding of math that the vast majority of coders have never been exposed to.