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I tried Haskell for 5 years

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Re: I tried Haskell for 5 years

#11

we should forbid click bait titles on HN, it's an insult to the audience's intelligence Clickbait title are so common we think they're normal titles.... Here's how he did it: you create a craving for an answer then you offer a solution for that craving. "here’s how it was" ==> that's the trick Also "here’s how" should never be used in a title, we all know that the title's subject IS what you're going to talk about. a…

While this title follows a particular style it actually tells you what the article will be about (5 years of Haskell). What bothers you about it?

It's clickbaity because you have to click to find out if their opinion is highly positive or negative. It sounds like it's going to be answered by "... terrible" or "... great!", and that it's phrased that way to make you click and find out.

Granted, once you click you find out that's not why it's titled that, but you still feel baited into clicking to find out. A better title would be something like "I tried Haskell for 5 years and here's the good and the bad", or something like that.

Re: I tried Haskell for 5 years

#12
> very hard to understand why a function could be useful in the first place

So true.

https://hackage.haskell.org/package/base-4.9.1.0/docs/Contro...

> mfix :: (a -> m a) -> m a

> The fixed point of a monadic computation. mfix f executes the action f only once, with the eventual output fed back as the input. Hence f should not be strict, for then mfix f would diverge.

But why tho?

Re: I tried Haskell for 5 years

#13
> 1. There is a learning curve.

Time and experience can cover up anything. So this does not say much about Haskell other than it is all negative without time and experience.

> 2. Haskell has some very nice libraries

So does NodeJS and (on an abstract level) Microsoft Word. Libraries are infrastructures and investments that (like time and experience) can cover up any shortcomings.

> 3. Haskell libraries are sometimes hard to figure out

That is simply negative, right?

> 4. Haskell sometimes feels like C++

That is also negative, right?

> 5. Performance is hard to figure out

That is also negative, right?

> 6. The easy is hard, the hard is easy

That is a general description of specialty -- unless he means all hard are easy.

> 7. Stack changed the game

Another infrastructure investment.

> 8. Summary: Haskell is a great programming language.

... I am a bit lost ... But if I read it as an attitude, it explains a lot about the existence of infrastructure and investment. Will overcomes anything.

Re: I tried Haskell for 5 years

#14
> The same is not true of Haskell. If you have never looked at Haskell code, you may have difficulty following even simple functions.

Why is it that people talk about this almost as if it's done virtue of the language? As if the fact that's it's so inscrutable proves that it's valuable, different, and on a higher plane of computing.

Re: I tried Haskell for 5 years

#15

> 1. There is a learning curve. Time and experience can cover up anything. So this does not say much about Haskell other than it is all negative without time and experience. > 2. Haskell has some very nice libraries So does NodeJS and (on an abstract level) Microsoft Word. Libraries are infrastructures and investments that (like time and experience) can cover up any shortcomings. > 3. Haskell libraries are sometimes…

I feel the same way. I think the Author was trying to give an honest opinion on the pitfalls. Would have been nice to hear about the honest benefits too.

Re: I tried Haskell for 5 years

#16
Question to the Haskell experts here.

Is Haskell more academic in nature or used heavily in Production environments?

Is there an application sweet spot/domain (say Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, etc) where it shines over using other languages (I am not talking about software/language architectural issues like type systems or such)?

I have no experience with Haskell but do use functional languages such as Erlang/Elixir on and off.

Re: I tried Haskell for 5 years

#17

> 1. There is a learning curve. Time and experience can cover up anything. So this does not say much about Haskell other than it is all negative without time and experience. > 2. Haskell has some very nice libraries So does NodeJS and (on an abstract level) Microsoft Word. Libraries are infrastructures and investments that (like time and experience) can cover up any shortcomings. > 3. Haskell libraries are sometimes…

I don't think being like C++ is a negative and it is far easier to learn compared to Haskell.

Re: I tried Haskell for 5 years

#19

> The same is not true of Haskell. If you have never looked at Haskell code, you may have difficulty following even simple functions. Why is it that people talk about this almost as if it's done virtue of the language? As if the fact that's it's so inscrutable proves that it's valuable, different, and on a higher plane of computing.

Not that that's a virtue, but it's a proof that it's a different thing.

Re: I tried Haskell for 5 years

#20

we should forbid click bait titles on HN, it's an insult to the audience's intelligence Clickbait title are so common we think they're normal titles.... Here's how he did it: you create a craving for an answer then you offer a solution for that craving. "here’s how it was" ==> that's the trick Also "here’s how" should never be used in a title, we all know that the title's subject IS what you're going to talk about. a…

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