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Haskell is fun to play with, but most definitely isn't on the list of "languages the boss will actually let you use if you ask nicely." The JVM FP languages l

by jcadam 11y ago

Haskell is fun to play with, but most definitely isn't on the list of "languages the boss will actually let you use if you ask nicely." The JVM FP languages like Scala and Clojure are probably more worthwhile to learn, from that perspective (maybe F# if you're in .NET-land). I learned Haskell first (man, what a slog that was) to come to grips with FP, then Scala so that I would actually have the opportunity to use a bit of functional programming on the job. Update: Downvotes? Apparently I said something controversial here.

the_af 11y ago
My guess is because your post reads as if you were implying it was a mistake learning Haskell first. I'd say it was a big win; I'd recommend learning a principled FP language like Haskell first, then a hybrid language like Scala. To me it's harder to learn FP principles in Scala, where it's so easy to cheat and revert to the plain old Java ways... It's harder to see the point of many FP techniques when you can just go back to imperative programming whenever you hit a roadblock. Probably also because Haskell is not only "fun to play with", but actually a capable language that can be used for real work (if only your boss would let you, of course, and that's a big "if").
davexunit 11y ago
You're being downvoted for making the all too common suggestion that the only programming languages worthwhile are those that are already widely adopted in for-profit business. There are better programming languages out there than what your hypothetical boss will let you use, and they can be used for more than just "fun".
- jcadam 11y ago
  I do not regret learning Haskell and believe doing so was a worthwhile exercise. What I'm saying is that the number of jobs out there calling for Haskell, OCaml, etc. is so small that it is not reasonable to plan on being able to use such languages professionally. There are many more programmers that would love to write Haskell for a living than there are job openings for Haskell developers. I have a strong dislike for programming in Java. But it pays the mortgage, so feh.
  - codygman 11y ago
    I'm using Haskell professionally right now.

by jcadam 11y ago

the_af 11y ago

My guess is because your post reads as if you were implying it was a mistake learning Haskell first. I'd say it was a big win; I'd recommend learning a principled FP language like Haskell first, then a hybrid language like Scala. To me it's harder to learn FP principles in Scala, where it's so easy to cheat and revert to the plain old Java ways... It's harder to see the point of many FP techniques when you can just go back to imperative programming whenever you hit a roadblock. Probably also because Haskell is not only "fun to play with", but actually a capable language that can be used for real work (if only your boss would let you, of course, and that's a big "if").

davexunit 11y ago

You're being downvoted for making the all too common suggestion that the only programming languages worthwhile are those that are already widely adopted in for-profit business. There are better programming languages out there than what your hypothetical boss will let you use, and they can be used for more than just "fun".

jcadam 11y ago
I do not regret learning Haskell and believe doing so was a worthwhile exercise. What I'm saying is that the number of jobs out there calling for Haskell, OCaml, etc. is so small that it is not reasonable to plan on being able to use such languages professionally. There are many more programmers that would love to write Haskell for a living than there are job openings for Haskell developers. I have a strong dislike for programming in Java. But it pays the mortgage, so feh.
- codygman 11y ago
  I'm using Haskell professionally right now.