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I don't think HN is the best forum for this kind of question.
Where would you suggest I ask?
I'm a Haskell newb as well (write apps in Java for daily living). I'm quite interested in theoritical CS, and that's what keep me pursuing Haskell.
If you ask me what specific benefits I get, then my answer is none. At least at the moment.
I don't think HN is the best forum for this kind of question.
Where would you suggest I ask?
I'm a Haskell newb as well. Learning it because I'm interested in theoritical CS (category theory, type system, etc).
If you ask me do I have any benefits of learning Haskell, then my answer is no. At least for the moment. But that doesn't stop me from pursuing it.
Of course, your mileage my vary... :)
I don't think HN is the best forum for this kind of question.
Where would you suggest I ask?
Also, if you haven't been getting traction with the #haskell IRC channel, try the #nothaskell channel. The title is a little confusing (it should be called something like #notjusthaskell), but they try to be more helpful there than the regular #haskell generally is.
You may also want to check out this recent post about the quality of various haskell resources: http://bitemyapp.com/posts/2014-12-31-functional-education.h...
http://www.paulgraham.com/know.html Learning Haskell adds to the mass of things you know, and the volume of that mass determines the level of your general expertise. You asked for tangible things, but it's harder to see what those may be. Perhaps your perception will be enhanced: perhaps you will better see and care about side-effects, opportunities for pure functions, etc. I don't think any learning effort that lead…
So: "Is Haskell worth learning?" Yes, certainly. "Is learning Haskell the best use of my limited time for such activities?" That's a much harder question.
(And it doesn't have to be the best use of your time. It could be close enough that it's not worth the time looking for something better.)
Could you elaborate a bit what you want to achieve by learning Haskell? I'm a Haskell newb as well. Learning it because I'm interested in theoritical CS (category theory, type system, etc). If you ask me do I have any benefits of learning Haskell, then my answer is no. At least for the moment. But that doesn't stop me from pursuing it. Of course, your mileage my vary... :)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where would you suggest I ask?
You can try the /r/haskell subreddit. They'll have more detailed information there, and on the subreddit you can browse some of the topics and projects currently going on in the haskell world, which may give you a better idea of what haskell is capable of. Also, if you haven't been getting traction with the #haskell IRC channel, try the #nothaskell channel. The title is a little confusing (it should be called somethi…
Do you have nay experience with the #haskell-beginner channel and knowledge about the degree of helpfulness there compared to #nothaskell?
I will check out the link; thanks a bunch!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can try the /r/haskell subreddit. They'll have more detailed information there, and on the subreddit you can browse some of the topics and projects currently going on in the haskell world, which may give you a better idea of what haskell is capable of. Also, if you haven't been getting traction with the #haskell IRC channel, try the #nothaskell channel. The title is a little confusing (it should be called somethi…
I have seen the /r/haskell subreddit. I lurked there for a few of months and my overall impression of it unfortunately is a sizable portion of people on that subreddit treat others exactly in the way which I have been treated while trying to learn Haskell, which is quite a shame. :-( Do you have nay experience with the #haskell-beginner channel and knowledge about the degree of helpfulness there compared to #nothaske…
If you could privately forward me links to some of the examples of behaviour that discouraged you I would appreciate it. I spend a lot of time on /r/haskell and am keen to keep it an encouraging place for new visitors.
My email address is here: http://web.jaguarpaw.co.uk/~tom/contact/
The first is Lisp.
The second is Haskell.
Lisp taught me, essentially, that most of what I'd been doing in other languages was unnecessary tedium, and introduced me to the functional style for the first time.
Haskell taught me that even some of what I was doing in Lisp was itself unnecessary tedium, and that things like typing that I'd found tedious in other languages, could actually work to my benefit. Even though I still don't code in Haskell as my main language, it made a functional believer out of me, and still affects my coding style and the design projects I've done since.
As for 'objectively verifiable', well, go look at most any equivalent program in Haskell or Lisp to one in C or Python and just compare how many code lines it takes to do the same work. All the 'design patterns' and 'constructors' and costly looping constructs and everything else falls away for so much tedious bullshit when you get your hands on a language with proper functional tools. And the benefits to sanity of writing in a state-free style are literally the reason I left purely imperative languages behind.
Even the best, least tedious code I see in imperative languages usually comes from people who've had experience in functional languages: probably my favorite Python programmer to read is Peter Norvig, because his Lisp background shows through even in his Python code. This is why people say over and over again that, even if you never touch a functional language again, it's still good to learn at least one, because it will improve the way you code and how you think about functions and composition of same.