Object-Functional Patterns: Re-thinking Development in a Post-Functional World

Programing paradigms define how to think and design while creating software. Object-Oriented and Functional paradigms are two of the most adopted for synthesizing it. Modern languages, attempting to provide higher abstractions, are increasingly supporting native multi-paradigm programming styles. The Object-functional approach still uses classes for information and high-level structure, but allows algorithms to be implemented functionally. New challenges now exist and there is a general lack of knowledge on best practices for adopting this paradigm. This research proposes the systematic usage of software patterns to capture these new recurring problems and their solutions, though not discarding the identification of new algorithms and designs. We will use Scala as a base language, and will attempt to validate our hypothesis through multiple methodologies, including quasi-experiments and case studies. We expect to provide a basis for improvement for programming languages (through pattern absorption) and for software engineering professionals.