Introduction to Lambda Calculus

Clojure and other Lisp dialects have a syntax that is very distinct in comparison to more common languages like Java, C++ and Python. The notion of having a function as the basic building block for programs can seem very arbitrary, and there are more examples in Clojure that don’t make sense at first sight.

This talk aims to expose the audience to the basics of Lambda Calculus, created more than 80 years ago, which is the theoretical bedrock of functional programming. We will see how simple functions can model the natural numbers, mathematical operators, predicates, data structures and control flow mechanism, thus enabling us to calculate any conceivable algorithm. At the end you will understand why Clojure has the basic syntax that is does, and the power of the simple and humble function.