4 ms·

ihaskell is a somewhat fragile project briding several disparate ecosystems/languages. I'm not really sure the value-add is there yet; in any case it is not a

by platz 9y ago

ihaskell is a somewhat fragile project briding several disparate ecosystems/languages. I'm not really sure the value-add is there yet; in any case it is not a tool for beginners or the preferred method to get feedback from your programs. Haskell proper is pretty turn-key these days with stack. Stay away from edgelord / niche projects. Stay away from most of the IDE tooling, including ghc-mod. You don't need to be fighting the tooling when starting. The repl and "ghcid" should be all you need (though I grant it takes some learning to use these as effectively if you're used to an IDE- you will learn with experience). Just use the "ghcid" cli tool to get compile errors and feedback. It is rock solid. https://github.com/ndmitchell/ghcid https://github.com/ndmitchell/ghcid Your experience will be much smoother. It takes a bit getting used to if you're used to an IDE, but with Haskell it's usually a better to go for a multi-terminal/repl kind of setup

resoluteteeth 9y ago
> Stay away from most of the IDE tooling. You don't need to be fighting the tooling when starting. The repl and "ghcid" should be all you need. I'm honestly not sure I'm interested in learning haskell if this is considered an acceptable situation.
- nh2 9y ago
  In practice, it is an acceptable (as in, not great, but sufficient) solution. It is annoying to not have the high quality of IDE tooling you'd enjoy with Java, but in contrast to Java you can be very productive in Haskell even without advanced IDEs (though you would be even more productive with them). There will be IDE tooling eventually.
- platz 9y ago
  There is editor tooling, you can look at intero or dante for that. It works. My point is as a beginner, it is added friction when the focus should be on learning how to use the repl and the language. If you absolutely require an IDE, Haskell is probably not going to be your favorite language.
  - twic 9y ago
    I make the same recommendation for people learning Java, and Java has the best IDE support there is. The fact is that an IDE is a large and complex tool with a lot of details to understand, and jt will sap mental energy that is needed for dealing with the new language. When starting out, pick a common programmer's editor you already know, find a syntax highlighter for it, and turn on auto-indentation. If there's a plugin or tool which does auto-formatting and doesn't need a lot of tweaking, add that too. Learn an IDE once you understand the language and are getting frustrated by boilerplate, navigation, etc.
deleted 9y ago
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vaibhavsagar 9y ago
I don't think it's fair to say IHaskell isn't for beginners, I found it invaluable when I was starting out as a richer REPL than GHCi. I agree with everything else you say about it though. I help maintain the project now and would love to know how I could make it easier to install and use.

by platz 9y ago

resoluteteeth 9y ago

> Stay away from most of the IDE tooling. You don't need to be fighting the tooling when starting. The repl and "ghcid" should be all you need. I'm honestly not sure I'm interested in learning haskell if this is considered an acceptable situation.

nh2 9y ago
In practice, it is an acceptable (as in, not great, but sufficient) solution. It is annoying to not have the high quality of IDE tooling you'd enjoy with Java, but in contrast to Java you can be very productive in Haskell even without advanced IDEs (though you would be even more productive with them). There will be IDE tooling eventually.
platz 9y ago
There is editor tooling, you can look at intero or dante for that. It works. My point is as a beginner, it is added friction when the focus should be on learning how to use the repl and the language. If you absolutely require an IDE, Haskell is probably not going to be your favorite language.
- twic 9y ago
  I make the same recommendation for people learning Java, and Java has the best IDE support there is. The fact is that an IDE is a large and complex tool with a lot of details to understand, and jt will sap mental energy that is needed for dealing with the new language. When starting out, pick a common programmer's editor you already know, find a syntax highlighter for it, and turn on auto-indentation. If there's a plugin or tool which does auto-formatting and doesn't need a lot of tweaking, add that too. Learn an IDE once you understand the language and are getting frustrated by boilerplate, navigation, etc.

deleted 9y ago

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vaibhavsagar 9y ago

I don't think it's fair to say IHaskell isn't for beginners, I found it invaluable when I was starting out as a richer REPL than GHCi. I agree with everything else you say about it though. I help maintain the project now and would love to know how I could make it easier to install and use.