I don't know if FP will appeal to you or make your life easier, but why not spend a couple weeks learning Haskell and see? Try "learn you a Haskell" or the Real

I don't know if FP will appeal to you or make your life easier, but why not spend a couple weeks learning Haskell and see? Try "learn you a Haskell" or the Real World Haskell book (both excellent and free online). I'm a fucking music major and figured it out pretty well. I'm sure you'll have no problems if it's something you're actually interested in learning about in your free time.