Maybe the problem is that I am confusing functional programming with purely functional programming?
Yeah, you nailed it. Writing a whole program with purely functional constructs is a little mind bending, since procedurally fundamental things like "printf" don't really exist. But that's just something that's much easier to do procedurally; it's hard for everyone, and there's no real secret to understanding it.
The important thing to remember is that languages don't have just one paradigm. An imperative language with first-class functions (as most high-level scripting languages have) is functional, just not "as" functional as, say, Haskell. You can use functional concepts in a language which isn't purely functional, just like you can use OO concepts in a language which isn't purely OO.
The good news is it sounds like you get functional programming much more than you thought, and you've definitely got the right attitude towards learning.
As long as you're open to being corrected, and honest about the limits of your knowledge, there's nothing wrong with trying to teach something you don't fully understand yourself. Teaching is one of the best ways to learn. Keep it up :)
Yeah, you nailed it. Writing a whole program with purely functional constructs is a little mind bending, since procedurally fundamental things like "printf" don't really exist. But that's just something that's much easier to do procedurally; it's hard for everyone, and there's no real secret to understanding it.
The important thing to remember is that languages don't have just one paradigm. An imperative language with first-class functions (as most high-level scripting languages have) is functional, just not "as" functional as, say, Haskell. You can use functional concepts in a language which isn't purely functional, just like you can use OO concepts in a language which isn't purely OO.
The good news is it sounds like you get functional programming much more than you thought, and you've definitely got the right attitude towards learning.
As long as you're open to being corrected, and honest about the limits of your knowledge, there's nothing wrong with trying to teach something you don't fully understand yourself. Teaching is one of the best ways to learn. Keep it up :)