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GHC 7.8.1 released

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Re: GHC 7.8.1 released

#52
post #33
post #9

[..] http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/7.8.1/html/users_guide/type-... [..] This extension allows programmers to use the list notation for construction of structures like: Set, Map, IntMap, Vector, Text and Array. The following code listing gives a few examples: ['0' .. '9'] :: Set Char [1 .. 10] :: Vector Int [("default",0), (k1,v1)] :: Map String Int ['a' .. 'z'] :: Text http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/7.8.1/html/use…

Woah! I did not know that was going to be included! Here's to hoping it makes as much a splash as OverloadedStrings did!

As a non-fan of OverloadedStrings, I'm not sure how I feel about this.

Re: GHC 7.8.1 released

#53

I really want to get into Haskell, but I just don't understand it. The tutorial on the official site doesn't do it for me. Can anyone suggest alternative resources for learning? I'm used to C-like languages. Thanks for all the responses. I'll start with LYAH.

If you want an alternative opinion from somebody who 1. Has taught a lot of Haskell 2. Thinks LYAH is better as a reference than a step-by-step method for learning Haskell Then see my Learning Haskell gist here (it includes Haskell Fast & Hard, and other things too). https://gist.github.com/bitemyapp/8739525 If anybody is learning Haskell and needs help, please email me. Edit: I agree with nnq, I think LYAH moves too…

Cool, i'm going to look at that gist for this years "try to learn haskell... again" attempt. :)

I do it every year but hit io monads and my mind continually just has a core dump. Some year I hope to climb everest.

Re: GHC 7.8.1 released

#54
This is great news for all 5 haskell programmers!

Just kidding, Haskell is a great language, it's unfortunate that the tooling is still way behind (at least on Windows) and that it isn't used much.

Re: GHC 7.8.1 released

#55
post #52
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Woah! I did not know that was going to be included! Here's to hoping it makes as much a splash as OverloadedStrings did!

As a non-fan of OverloadedStrings, I'm not sure how I feel about this.

What are your objections to OverloadedStrings?

Re: GHC 7.8.1 released

#57
post #52
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Woah! I did not know that was going to be included! Here's to hoping it makes as much a splash as OverloadedStrings did!

As a non-fan of OverloadedStrings, I'm not sure how I feel about this.

I think OverloadedStrings makes things more ambiguous. It's a power-feature, to be sure, but it also makes the use of Text and ByteString much more available in much the same way that numeric literals do (literally the same way, actually).

I think that sort of ambiguity is part of Haskell. It rescinds a bit on the HM promise of never having to write types, but Haskell has long rescinded on that in spirit and practice. It leads to a bit of beginner trouble, but, again, not any more than numeric literals do.

I welcome overloaded lists because I feel it'll make more libraries willing to expose Set-typed interfaces when that's the honest contract that should be upheld by the interface. That's what I want my types to tell me—not just what's syntactically convenient.

Re: GHC 7.8.1 released

#58
post #44

I really want to get into Haskell, but I just don't understand it. The tutorial on the official site doesn't do it for me. Can anyone suggest alternative resources for learning? I'm used to C-like languages. Thanks for all the responses. I'll start with LYAH.

I sincerely recommend against LYAH! It takes sooooooooo loooooong to get to the interesting bits that actually make Haskell worth learning an has so many try-to-be-funny examples that it makes you run away screaming... I tried going through it but it was literally oscillating between putting my mind to sleep and making wish to grab a chainsaw :) And the "humor" and "pretty pictures" don't help either... they were mor…

[deleted]

Re: GHC 7.8.1 released

#59
post #44

I really want to get into Haskell, but I just don't understand it. The tutorial on the official site doesn't do it for me. Can anyone suggest alternative resources for learning? I'm used to C-like languages. Thanks for all the responses. I'll start with LYAH.

I sincerely recommend against LYAH! It takes sooooooooo loooooong to get to the interesting bits that actually make Haskell worth learning an has so many try-to-be-funny examples that it makes you run away screaming... I tried going through it but it was literally oscillating between putting my mind to sleep and making wish to grab a chainsaw :) And the "humor" and "pretty pictures" don't help either... they were mor…

I accidentally upvoted you, but I disagree. LYAH is a great book to actually read through, and I enjoyed the humor. real world haskell introduces things without explaining and it's quite confusing and inconsistent.

Re: GHC 7.8.1 released

#60
post #57
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a non-fan of OverloadedStrings, I'm not sure how I feel about this.

I think OverloadedStrings makes things more ambiguous. It's a power-feature, to be sure, but it also makes the use of Text and ByteString much more available in much the same way that numeric literals do (literally the same way, actually). I think that sort of ambiguity is part of Haskell. It rescinds a bit on the HM promise of never having to write types, but Haskell has long rescinded on that in spirit and practice…

I somewhat agree on the last point. The temptation is often too great to use those horrible, horrible O(n^2) set functions (nub, difference, intersection) from Data.List just because of the immediate availability.
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