2 ms·
Haskell has a reputation because a subset of the community chooses to push a reputation. This is how it works with almost every language. It actually, to an ex
by caslon 5y ago
Haskell has a reputation because a subset of the community chooses to push a reputation. This is how it works with almost every language.
It actually, to an extent, works to its disadvantage. If a metric becomes a target, it stops being a useful metric, and some of the worst programmers I know have made their way over to Haskell to take advantage of this reputation in the last five years.
The closest "real" languages in TIOBE are ML (a few positions under Haskell) and Scheme (a few above), and both have a pretty similar reputation.
- benreesman 5y agoIn fairness, the semi-official motto of Haskell is: “Avoid success at all costs.” :)
- caslon 5y agoEvery time I see an SPJ quote I always remember that he's working one step removed from video games now and start laughing.
- benreesman 5y agoI’m generally a fan of lulz for any reason, and I’ve long since lost track of where SPJ was working (I thought he was still at MSR). But what’s wrong with video games? That shit is creeping up on the NFL right?
- michaelt 5y agoWell, games have a complex reputation. Are they works of staggering complexity, pushing the limits of what hardware can do, and one of the few examples of software people will actually pay for? Or are they gigantic mountains of poorly tested hacks, laden with bugs at release, developed under abusive conditions and riddled with DRM, microtransactions and gambling mechanics?
- eru 5y agoThere's lots of different games. Some are both, some are neither. Some are one of the two.
- caslon 5y agoDon't get me wrong, I love video games! Half of my posts on Hacker News are about video games! It's just funny to me to think about how one of the most esteemed members of the FP community is working one step removed from the least-prestigious video game, and was employed directly because of that video game.
- NateEag 5y agoI have an absolutely baseless suspicion that "the worst programmers [you] know" are significantly better than the worst ones I've worked with. The worst ones I've worked with have probably never heard of Haskell, and I would be pretty surprised if they actually managed to write and run a Haskell program that did anything not entirely trivial without someone else helping.
- caslon 5y agoYou're probably correct. I've been very lucky to have mostly been around smart people, and so it's likely that the average middling person I come across is, well, just that. Middling status-climbers are still dangerous, though, and still work to ruin averages. That said, Haskell actually has a lot of great resources available, and I think it is learnable by just about anyone these days. It usually only takes one good book for a language to become available to average people, and Haskell has a great volume of beginner-friendly books. It can be debated as to whether this is a good thing or not, but I think it's always nice to see new pathways into programming become available, even if I'm not necessarily in love with a language.
- benreesman 5y agoI might be biased by having worked with Bryan O’Sullivan, but I personally think that RWH has aged fantastically well in the “get practical shit done in Haskell” genre.