dayangrah.am

f# ecommerce site : an e-commerce site built with React and Redux on the frontend and F# on the backend.

An e-commerce site built with React and Redux on the frontend and F# on the backend.

This project was a challenge to see if I could make a REST API in a functional language, choosing F# with the Giraffe web framework. The backend uses a NoSQL database in MongoDB to store item details. On the frontend, React with Redux is used for state management. This project helped me learn state management in a functional programming context.

Key Learnings

As someone primarily experienced with Python and JavaScript, this project provided me with several valuable learning experiences:

  1. Functional Programming Paradigm: Working with F#, a functional-first language, was a significant shift from my usual object-oriented and imperative styles. I learned about:

    • The benefits of immutability in managing state
    • How to use higher-order functions and function composition effectively
    • Implementing elegant control flow through pattern matching

  2. Strong Static Typing: Unlike my experience with Python and JavaScript, F#‘s strong, static type system introduced me to:

    • Type inference, allowing me to write concise code without sacrificing type safety
    • Using discriminated unions and record types to model domain entities
    • The advantages of catching errors at compile-time rather than runtime

  3. Asynchronous Programming in F#: While I was familiar with async/await in JavaScript, F#‘s async workflows gave me a fresh perspective on handling asynchronous operations.

  4. Domain-Driven Design (DDD): F#‘s suitability for DDD exposed me to:

    • Modeling the domain using types
    • Creating a ubiquitous language that bridges code and business requirements

  5. Functional Web Development: Using Giraffe showed me how functional concepts apply to web development, contrasting with my experience in Express.js or Flask.

  6. Functional State Management: Using Redux on the frontend, I noticed parallels with functional state management on the backend, which reinforced my understanding of functional programming principles.

  7. NoSQL with F#: Interacting with MongoDB from F# demonstrated how I could apply functional programming concepts to database operations.

  8. Cross-Paradigm Development: Building a full-stack application with a functional backend (F#) and a more imperative frontend (JavaScript/React) highlighted for me the strengths and challenges of each approach.

More details can be found here.

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