The Uncommon Advantage from Training in Unpopular Programming Languages • Hacker News Board

Re: The Uncommon Advantage from Training in Unpopular Programming Languages

#11

Post by mrkeen » Thu, Dec 28, 2023, 8:16 AM UTC

Cpoll wrote: post #2

This feels like a low-content article. The only thing I can get out of it is: Learning Haskell teaches you language features and patterns that you can take to other languages. As an FP dabbler I agree, but I wish there were more to this. > approximately 50-hour training course Is this really long enough to achieve anything? That's like "FP 101 (one semester)" if you don't take the time to do the homework.

> Is this really long enough to achieve anything? That's like "FP 101 (one semester)"

Probably. The semester that covered Haskell didn't have enough time to teach me much, but that's because it also covered FSAs, Turing Machines, Lambda Calculus, natural deduction, structural induction and Hoare logic.

You could get so much more done by learning from a practitioner that can show you how to start a project, where the packages live, which ones to use etc.

Re: The Uncommon Advantage from Training in Unpopular Programming Languages

#12

Post by javcasas » Thu, Dec 28, 2023, 4:01 PM UTC

Come on Justin, you used to write spicier articles when I worked at stackbuilders. What happened?

Re: The Uncommon Advantage from Training in Unpopular Programming Languages

#13

Post by javcasas » Thu, Dec 28, 2023, 4:03 PM UTC

smitty1e wrote: post #3

Cpoll wrote: post #2

This feels like a low-content article. The only thing I can get out of it is: Learning Haskell teaches you language features and patterns that you can take to other languages. As an FP dabbler I agree, but I wish there were more to this. > approximately 50-hour training course Is this really long enough to achieve anything? That's like "FP 101 (one semester)" if you don't take the time to do the homework.

I might enjoy a paid Haskell course, but thr site didn't seem to offer such.

No, because this is an ad disguised as an article. You are now supposed to leave your job and apply to work there, and then, when you are hired and spend a bit of time working there, you get the Haskell course.

Source: I worked there.

Re: The Uncommon Advantage from Training in Unpopular Programming Languages

#14

Post by d_sc » Thu, Dec 28, 2023, 4:05 PM UTC

When I was in University I took a course that focused on a set of problems to be solved. Each assignment in the course was solving them using a different language. Thinking back the languages were: - C - C++ - ASM - Haskell - Lisp - Java - Eiffel - Modula - Prolog - Perl

It was an awesome course, you learned over time how some languages were better suited for certain tasks than others.

It reinforced the idea of using the right tool for the job. While a solution was feasible or verbose in some of the languages in others it was simple or concise.

I also remember thinking Java was really nice to use. Lives the automatic garbage collection and not having to think about dangling pointers.

Also that Perl was frustrating.

Re: The Uncommon Advantage from Training in Unpopular Programming Languages

#15

Post by smitty1e » Fri, Dec 29, 2023, 9:06 AM UTC

javcasas wrote: post #13

smitty1e wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I might enjoy a paid Haskell course, but thr site didn't seem to offer such.

No, because this is an ad disguised as an article. You are now supposed to leave your job and apply to work there, and then, when you are hired and spend a bit of time working there, you get the Haskell course. Source: I worked there.

Past tense noted.