[axelerator]

I always say my appreciation for functional programming comes from having spent enough time in imperative hell.

That being said I think learning programming in an "expressions only" environment can enable the student to deal with more complex problems earlier, merely by making certain types of errors impossible.

I think the Elm programming language is the sweet spot for that.

- it does have elegant (Haskell like) syntax

- it has still a simple syntax because it deliberately omits certain features (namely typeclasses, do-notation)

- it has a self contained build system (compiler, package manager, repl, dev server) with a rich ecosystem of libraries

- it is comparatively easy to ship something tangible because it compiles to JS for the browser