How is memory-efficient non-destructive manipulation of collections achieved in functional programming?

Question

I\'m trying to figure out how non-destructive manipulation of large collections is implemented in functional programming, ie. how it is possible to alter or remove single el

Answer 1

While the referenced objects are the same in your code, I beleive the storage space for the references themselves and the structure of the list is duplicated by take. As a result, while the referenced objects are the same, and the tails are shared between the two lists, the "cells" for the initial portions are duplicated.

I'm not an expert in functional programming, but maybe with some kind of tree you could achieve duplication of only log(n) elements, as you would have to recreate only the path from the root to the inserted element.