Hi Jerzy,
Thank you for your thorough response. I will archive it and come back to it as a reference. As I learn more about FP features (e.g. Monads) I'll be able to get more from your description.
But just a quick note:
4. A general observation about the use of both languages by a beginner who wants to learn on examples: Haskell disposes of two decent interactive interpreters: Hugs and GHCI permitting to test directly small expression, to ask about their types, etc. which is often useful for debugging, and for grasping the essentials on small exercises.
For me, right now, this makes a world of a difference. I'm experimenting with small exercises on Hugs right now.
It must be admitted though that neither is really an *interactive*
Yeah, I noticed... ;-) But I recently learned about a neat workaround:
I have a file called Test.hs and load it with ':l Test'. Then I start exprimenting. I make a small change and type ':l Test' again. So it's almost interactive, and not excessively akward.
I think I'll learn a bit more using Haskell, and then I'll be in a better position to decide where to continue (probably with Haskell at first).
Now, for the people who asked those questions. Choose whatever you wish, if your philosophy is "I have no time to learn two languages, only one, so tell me which one is better", then I have some VERY STRONG statements:
* Whoever says to you "H is *better* that C" (or vice-versa) is LYING.
:-) Well, I merely ask for general impressions and go from there.
* If you want to learn FP, you should have a good view on the principal paradigms, not on particular syntactic constructs. Then, some knowledge of two different languages is more than helpful.
Ok. Good to know.
* Learning of languages is a big adventure and pleasure.
That's why I'm here. :-)
I have a strong preference for languages with clear, simple models. For example, I like C better than C++, and Ruby better than Python. Even if something might take fewer lines in C++ than in C, or be faster in Python than in Ruby, I like the feeling that I understand what I'm doing. And I see elegance in a simple model with few exceptions.
* Here and elsewhere both H and C communities are helpful, people who
know, answer all questions without pretensions nor suggestions that they are respectful gurus bothered by beginners (which happens too often on other "language-oriented" newgroups I visit from time to time...).
Indeed. I've been pleasantly surprised by how friendly this group has been. I've learned a lot already, and now I have a lot of resources to continue my exploration of Haskell and FP.
Incidentally, the Ruby community is friendly too. :-)
Cheers, Daniel. _______________________________________________ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
