Functional Programming for Data Analytics

This module will provide students with the skills needed to design elegant, scalable and efficient data analytics processes using functional programming. The module will introduce the foundations of functional programming using the Scala language, illustrate those foundations and put them in practice through a hands-on approach, with practical sessions where students will have the opportunity to create data processing applications using a functional programming approach. The module will also illustrate and give practical examples of how the principles of functional programming in Scala, including immutable objects and recursive data structures, are specially fit for modern, large-scale data processing requirements.

Learning Outcomes
1.Understand the foundations of the functional programming paradigm, as implemented in Scala
2.Understand how and when to apply the fundamental principles of functional programming
3.Design end-to-end data analytics processes applying the principles of functional programming
4.Implement elegant, scalable and efficient data analytics processes using Scala
5.Gain an overview of the current role of functional programming (in particular, Scala) in the ecosystem of large scale Data Analytic frameworks