> Can we stop promote imperative-ish languages and focus on where lambda can take us?<p>nope, and why would we? For many applications, including the majority of scientific research, FP is a non-starter. You need a simple, robust, procedural language that thinks the way most of our brains are wired. There is no reason or payoff to wrapping your mind around an arcane style of programming when the software project is not going to need the benefits of that style of development.