Ryan Ingram wrote:
I would go further than that. To Andrew's question, I say:
Yes, we want to encourage "these people" to learn Haskell. We want to
smash all their expectations into tiny little pieces. We want their
brains to explode. And after that, we want to take what is left, pick
it up off the floor, and put it back in as something new and better!
People who didn't realize just what it was that they were getting
into, once they come around, tend to be even more vocal supporters
among their peers. They've finally "gotten it" and want to share that
experience with others.
We just need to communicate that learning Haskell will make you a
better programmer, no matter what expectations you have going in.
Trouble is, certain programmers expect to master everything in 20
seconds flat ("Learn C++ in 21 days", anyone?), and if they try to learn
an "obscure" and "irrelevant" language like Haskell and don't "get it"
in 20 seconds flat, they'll go "bah, stupid language" and move on. I'm
pretty sure there's no way to simplify Haskell to the point where people
can master it in 20 seconds, so these people are pretty much a lost cause.
Thus, I would concentrate my efforts on people who are actually willing
to make the effort required to learn. Maybe that's just me...
_______________________________________________
Haskell-Cafe mailing list
Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org
http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
