4 ms·

> I like F# because it's the best programming training language I've found.... It still works great for making me think about and become a better programmer, no

> I like F# because it's the best programming training language I've found.... It still works great for making me think about and become a better programmer, no matter what language I use in everyday work. I can understand how trying a range of language can make you a better programmer, by better appreciating the dimensions of language design and how it fits together, etc. but I have harder time accepting this stronger, more specific claim. There's not really any support for this claim in the article.

kirse 5y ago
Mark Seemann has a good talk on this called the "functional pits of success" -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US8QG9I1XW0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US8QG9I1XW0 Of all the languages I've used nothing is quite as fun as refactoring an F# app down to nothing. Expressive power is king in F# with the whole .NET ecosystem behind it.
- verinus 5y ago
  I quite like Mark's way of thinking and stumbled upon his blog several years ago while learning FP with F#. [1] Especially the series about category theory... Can also recommend his recently published book "Code that fits in your head". [1] https://blog.ploeh.dk/ https://blog.ploeh.dk/ edit: typo
  - Akronymus 5y ago
    If you like his blog, you surely are gonna enjoy wlashins blog as well. (Making the BIG assumption you don't know it already) It is THE blog that made me grok a lot of FP. https://fsharpforfunandprofit.com/ https://fsharpforfunandprofit.com/
    - verinus 5y ago
      Ah yes- superb content on FP/F#! He helped me a long way to understand FP- thanks for mentioning it, I can definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to get into FP / F#!
- dsizzle 5y ago
  Does refactoring down to nothing in F# make you a better programmer in other languages? That sounds like you just like programming in F#.
DavidWoof 5y ago
I feel this way about Haskell, and I understand why someone would feel this way about F#. No matter what language I use, I now constantly think about how to avoid side effects, how to minimize mutability, how to ensure my code flow is readable and not cluttered by irrelevancies (notice how the author keeps bringing up "noise"?). It's similar to the way that learning TDD led me to think about testability in every design regardless of language. That's not to say that pure functional languages is the only way to these lessons, of course.
- dsizzle 5y ago
  >I now constantly think about how to avoid side effects, how to minimize mutability, how to ensure my code flow is readable and not cluttered by irrelevancies (notice how the author keeps bringing up "noise"?) Sure, but you would get that from pretty much any FP language. This article seems to be making claims for F# in particular.

kirse 5y ago

Mark Seemann has a good talk on this called the "functional pits of success" -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US8QG9I1XW0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US8QG9I1XW0 Of all the languages I've used nothing is quite as fun as refactoring an F# app down to nothing. Expressive power is king in F# with the whole .NET ecosystem behind it.

verinus 5y ago
I quite like Mark's way of thinking and stumbled upon his blog several years ago while learning FP with F#. [1] Especially the series about category theory... Can also recommend his recently published book "Code that fits in your head". [1] https://blog.ploeh.dk/ https://blog.ploeh.dk/ edit: typo
- Akronymus 5y ago
  If you like his blog, you surely are gonna enjoy wlashins blog as well. (Making the BIG assumption you don't know it already) It is THE blog that made me grok a lot of FP. https://fsharpforfunandprofit.com/ https://fsharpforfunandprofit.com/
  - verinus 5y ago
    Ah yes- superb content on FP/F#! He helped me a long way to understand FP- thanks for mentioning it, I can definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to get into FP / F#!
dsizzle 5y ago
Does refactoring down to nothing in F# make you a better programmer in other languages? That sounds like you just like programming in F#.

DavidWoof 5y ago

I feel this way about Haskell, and I understand why someone would feel this way about F#. No matter what language I use, I now constantly think about how to avoid side effects, how to minimize mutability, how to ensure my code flow is readable and not cluttered by irrelevancies (notice how the author keeps bringing up "noise"?). It's similar to the way that learning TDD led me to think about testability in every design regardless of language. That's not to say that pure functional languages is the only way to these lessons, of course.

dsizzle 5y ago
>I now constantly think about how to avoid side effects, how to minimize mutability, how to ensure my code flow is readable and not cluttered by irrelevancies (notice how the author keeps bringing up "noise"?) Sure, but you would get that from pretty much any FP language. This article seems to be making claims for F# in particular.