Is Python a functional programming language?

[Nobody]

On Tue, 11 May 2010 00:24:22 +1200, Samuel Williams wrote:

> Is Python a functional programming language?

Not in any meaningful sense of the term.

> Is this a paradigm that is well supported by both the language syntax and
> the general programming APIs?

No.

> I heard that lambdas were limited to a single expression,

Yes. In a functional language that wouldn't be a problem, as there's no
limit to the complexity of an expression. Python's expressions are far
more limited, which restricts what can be done with a lambda.

> and that other
> functional features were slated for removal in Python 3... is this the
> case or have I been misinformed?

I don't know about this.

> Finally, even if Python supports functional features, is this a model that
> is used often in client/application code?

Not really. List comprehensions are probably the most common example of
functional idioms, but again they're limited by Python's rather limited
concept of an expression.