5 ms·

You could say that Go is Python and Rust is Haskell, because, well, Rust is basically Haskell cleverly disguised as a C-style language so as to not scare away i

You could say that Go is Python and Rust is Haskell, because, well, Rust is basically Haskell cleverly disguised as a C-style language so as to not scare away imperative programmers.

vezzy-fnord 12y ago
Could you elaborate on that? Rust has a powerful static type system, HOFs, is expression-based, has an unusually good pattern matching engine for its intended area, assumes immutability by default and uses a notation for function signatures typically associated with FP, but I don't think those are enough to call it a "cleverly disguised Haskell". In fact, it has been my observation that the language has been getting progressively less functional since its early days. Not that I consider this to be bad.
- thirsteh 12y ago
  Sure -- basically what you said: http://science.raphael.poss.name/rust-for-functional-programmers.html#straightforward-equivalences http://science.raphael.poss.name/rust-for-functional-program... Of course it's not exactly Haskell, but it's arguably closer to FP than it is to C, yet manages to be approachable to imperative programmers. I think this is fantastic.
  - nightski 12y ago
    That would be a really tough argument to make. It goes to great lengths to give control over memory layout and control and lacks a LOT of the features of Haskell's type system. It's a lot more like a prettier D than Haskell. Not only that with every iteration it has been moving farther away from the FP paradigm.
    - naasking 12y ago
      I think you mean GHC's type system, since Rust is arguably quite close to Haskell 98 in spirit, ie. algebraic types, lambdas, pattern matching, traits = single parameter type classes.
- Retra 12y ago
  I think the point is that it seems actively inspired by Haskell -- that the things people like about Haskell are the same things the designers of Rust want in their language.
  - saosebastiao 12y ago
    As far as I can tell, there is some Haskell inspiration in the form of typeclasses (traits in Rust), but almost everything else that resembles FP has a more common denominator in ML. (Even Haskell's type classes have some common lineage with SML Functors)
agumonkey 12y ago
Reminds me of hop and house (haskell based OS) http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/299 http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/299 ~ 2004
detrino 12y ago
> Rust is basically Haskell cleverly disguised as a C-style language so as to not scare away imperative programmers. This comment is very condescending. It makes it seem as if C programmers are ignorant and Haskell programmers are enlightened. Haskell is a garbage collected, lazy, pure language which makes it unsuitable for many of the domains C-style languages are used in. These are also qualities not shared by Rust, which may explain why there is less resistance in its uptake by C programmers.
- thirsteh 12y ago
  Oh, come on. Don't take things so seriously. There are tons of Haskell programmers who don't know C, too, and Rust is just as much of a way for them to reap the benefits of C as it is anything else.
- naasking 12y ago
  > Haskell is a garbage collected, lazy, pure language which makes it unsuitable for many of the domains C-style languages are used in. Don't be so sure! [1] You could simply use Haskell as a metalanguage to generate a C program that does what you need, just like they did with copilot. No Haskell runtime needed. [1] https://github.com/leepike/copilot-discussion https://github.com/leepike/copilot-discussion
kyllo 12y ago
I'd say Rust is more like C and OCaml had a baby.
- saosebastiao 12y ago
  An amazing compliment, IMO.

You could say that Go is Python and Rust is Haskell, because, well, Rust is basically Haskell cleverly disguised as a C-style language so as to not scare away imperative programmers.

vezzy-fnord 12y ago

Could you elaborate on that? Rust has a powerful static type system, HOFs, is expression-based, has an unusually good pattern matching engine for its intended area, assumes immutability by default and uses a notation for function signatures typically associated with FP, but I don't think those are enough to call it a "cleverly disguised Haskell". In fact, it has been my observation that the language has been getting progressively less functional since its early days. Not that I consider this to be bad.

thirsteh 12y ago
Sure -- basically what you said: http://science.raphael.poss.name/rust-for-functional-programmers.html#straightforward-equivalences http://science.raphael.poss.name/rust-for-functional-program... Of course it's not exactly Haskell, but it's arguably closer to FP than it is to C, yet manages to be approachable to imperative programmers. I think this is fantastic.
- nightski 12y ago
  That would be a really tough argument to make. It goes to great lengths to give control over memory layout and control and lacks a LOT of the features of Haskell's type system. It's a lot more like a prettier D than Haskell. Not only that with every iteration it has been moving farther away from the FP paradigm.
  - naasking 12y ago
    I think you mean GHC's type system, since Rust is arguably quite close to Haskell 98 in spirit, ie. algebraic types, lambdas, pattern matching, traits = single parameter type classes.
Retra 12y ago
I think the point is that it seems actively inspired by Haskell -- that the things people like about Haskell are the same things the designers of Rust want in their language.
- saosebastiao 12y ago
  As far as I can tell, there is some Haskell inspiration in the form of typeclasses (traits in Rust), but almost everything else that resembles FP has a more common denominator in ML. (Even Haskell's type classes have some common lineage with SML Functors)

agumonkey 12y ago

Reminds me of hop and house (haskell based OS) http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/299 http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/299 ~ 2004

detrino 12y ago

> Rust is basically Haskell cleverly disguised as a C-style language so as to not scare away imperative programmers. This comment is very condescending. It makes it seem as if C programmers are ignorant and Haskell programmers are enlightened. Haskell is a garbage collected, lazy, pure language which makes it unsuitable for many of the domains C-style languages are used in. These are also qualities not shared by Rust, which may explain why there is less resistance in its uptake by C programmers.

thirsteh 12y ago
Oh, come on. Don't take things so seriously. There are tons of Haskell programmers who don't know C, too, and Rust is just as much of a way for them to reap the benefits of C as it is anything else.
naasking 12y ago
> Haskell is a garbage collected, lazy, pure language which makes it unsuitable for many of the domains C-style languages are used in. Don't be so sure! [1] You could simply use Haskell as a metalanguage to generate a C program that does what you need, just like they did with copilot. No Haskell runtime needed. [1] https://github.com/leepike/copilot-discussion https://github.com/leepike/copilot-discussion

kyllo 12y ago

I'd say Rust is more like C and OCaml had a baby.

saosebastiao 12y ago
An amazing compliment, IMO.