Hands-On Functional Programming with C++: An effective guide to writing accelerated functional code using C++17 and C++20

Functional programming is not a separate language feature you have to leave C++ to find. This book shows how to use its ideas within modern C++—starting with pure functions, immutability, and lambdas, then building toward function-centered design, testing, performance, and architecture. The emphasis is on understanding how the pieces fit together, not simply collecting new syntax.

Start with the building blocks

Alexandru Bolboaca introduces functional programming alongside familiar object-oriented approaches, then examines the practices that make functional code easier to reason about. Topics include pure functions, immutable data, lambda captures, function composition, partial application, and currying. Together, these concepts offer a vocabulary for structuring code as clear transformations rather than relying on hidden state and repeated logic.

See the ideas at work in C++

The book moves from explanation into applied examples, including a functional approach to solving tic-tac-toe. It also explores higher-level operations for transforming, finding, and reducing data. These examples give readers a way to consider not only what a program computes, but how its flow of data and functions can make the solution more cohesive.

From design habits to broader applications

Later chapters take up test-driven and property-based testing, refactoring toward pure functions, functional design patterns, and event sourcing. The discussion also reaches performance considerations such as parallelism, memoization, asynchronous code, and memory use, before turning to lazy evaluation, ranges, and relevant C++ library facilities.

A useful read for C++ developers

Basic C++ programming experience is helpful; previous experience with functional programming is not required. Developers looking to explore a different way of organizing C++ code will find a progression from core concepts to design examples and language-library applications, with C++17 and C++20 as the stated focus.