What are the performance issues with immutability in programming?

What are the performance issues with immutability in programming?

Immutability can lead to performance overhead due to the need to create new objects instead of modifying existing ones. This can increase memory usage and garbage collection time.

Can you give an example of when this might be a problem?

Sure! In a large application, if you frequently update a large data structure, creating new copies for each update can slow down performance significantly.

Are there any strategies to mitigate these performance issues?

Yes, you can use techniques like structural sharing, where you share parts of the data structure that haven't changed, or consider using mutable data structures when performance is critical.

What languages handle immutability better than others?

Languages like Scala and Clojure are designed with immutability in mind and provide optimizations for it, while JavaScript and Python may require more careful management.