The other problem was that examples were typically full of what I would consider appallingly named/abbreviated functions,parameters etc. That's mostly due to t

The other problem was that examples were typically full of what I would consider appallingly named/abbreviated functions,parameters etc. That's mostly due to the mathematical or computer-science background of most people who wrote these articles in the early days. It's entirely normal in mathematics etc. to use brief variable names, and it carried over into Haskell because of the large cultural overlap between Haskellers and academics. For short examples, I hugely prefer the short notation with "appalling" names, but that might be due to my background in formal logic and mathematics. It doesn't help in software development, and it's poison in larger applications, that's for sure. But for short examples, you get used to it pretty quickly. You should check out both Real World Haskell and Learn You a Haskell (both are also freely available online.) They're really well-written, and part of why Haskell's community is so awesome.