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I've been using Haskell on and off for a few years and have written a few (small) projects in it. Every time I end up turned off of it, though. First, I don't

I've been using Haskell on and off for a few years and have written a few (small) projects in it. Every time I end up turned off of it, though. First, I don't like how it makes side effects such a PITA. Fact of the matter is, computing is only useful for the side effects. A computation is useless if the result isn't printed to the screen, saved to a file, sent over the network, or used in some other way. So why make side effects so difficult? Second, the community, or at least a vocal minority, come off as very condescending. If I have to ask a question on IRC I probably already feel dumb, I don't need somebody treating me like a child because I don't understand something.

SkyMarshal 15y ago
I don't know if this was the intent or a side effect, but one reason for strictly controlling side effects is that it improves parallelization of the code. Global state, mutable vars, other side effects are some of the biggest obstacles to code parallelization, and that's one of Haskell's solutions to it. Haskell and Erlang seem to be the only two languages that seem designed from the ground up for massive concurrency and parallelism.
gtirloni 15y ago
One of the reasons I'd suggest Haskell to someone is exactly the community. I cannot see a question going unanswered on #haskell or at least 2-3 trying to help (doesn't matter if it's beginner-level or advanced). My experience has been the opposite.