Understanding Programming Paradigms: OOP, Functional, and Dynamic Languages

Every programming language has a unique way of organizing logic, managing state, and structuring data. Understanding these underlying paradigms is the key to becoming a versatile developer who can easily adapt to any new language. This text-based course guides you through the fundamental concepts of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) and functional programming, using Ruby as a primary vehicle to explore dynamic typing, subtyping, and code decomposition. You will learn how to compare different programming styles, analyze how languages handle types, and make informed architectural decisions in your software projects. What you'll learn: - Understand the core principles of object-oriented programming, including classes, objects, and dynamic dispatch. - Compare functional decomposition with object-oriented decomposition to choose the right pattern for your code. - Explore dynamic typing and contrast it with static typing systems to understand runtime behavior. - Analyze subtyping, inheritance, and mixins to build flexible, reusable software structures. - Apply modern gradual typing concepts to bridge the gap between dynamic flexibility and static safety. You will start with the foundational definitions of programming paradigms before diving into object-oriented concepts, exploring dynamic typing, and analyzing how different language features interact. This course is designed for beginner to intermediate programmers who want to deepen their understanding of how programming languages work under the hood; basic familiarity with general programming concepts is helpful but no advanced experience is required. Start exploring the core structures of programming languages today.