Re: [Haskell-cafe] Learning advice

2007-09-07 Thread Wouter Swierstra

Hi Chris,

I should also point out that the wiki has a lot of really useful links:

http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Learning_Haskell

Good luck,

  Wouter

This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an attachment
may still contain software viruses, which could damage your computer system:
you are advised to perform your own checks. Email communications with the
University of Nottingham may be monitored as permitted by UK legislation.

___
Haskell-Cafe mailing list
Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org
http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe


Re: [Haskell-cafe] Learning advice

2007-09-07 Thread Albert Y. C. Lai

Brent Yorgey wrote:
Then one day he met someone else who said she was also a race car 
driver, but her car was different -- she called it a Haskar.  It had a 
top speed of 400 miles per hour, no steering wheel (you just lean 
whichever way you want to go, she said),


I wish I could just lean left or right and the computer enters foldl or 
foldr.


___
Haskell-Cafe mailing list
Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org
http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe


Re: [Haskell-cafe] Learning advice

2007-09-07 Thread Brandon S. Allbery KF8NH


On Sep 7, 2007, at 14:37 , Albert Y. C. Lai wrote:


Brent Yorgey wrote:
Then one day he met someone else who said she was also a race car  
driver, but her car was different -- she called it a Haskar.  It  
had a top speed of 400 miles per hour, no steering wheel (you just  
lean whichever way you want to go, she said),


I wish I could just lean left or right and the computer enters  
foldl or foldr.


Hey, an actual use for WiiMote drivers!  :)

--
brandon s. allbery [solaris,freebsd,perl,pugs,haskell] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
system administrator [openafs,heimdal,too many hats] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
electrical and computer engineering, carnegie mellon universityKF8NH


___
Haskell-Cafe mailing list
Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org
http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe


Re: [Haskell-cafe] Learning advice

2007-09-06 Thread Tom Harper
No, that book is not outdated.  Can you give an example of what's not
working for you?

On 9/6/07, Chris Saunders [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:




 I wish to learn Haskell.  I purchased a book – An Introduction to Functional
 Programming Systems Using Haskell but I think this might be too outdated.
 I'm using GHC and it seems that some of the functions used in the book are
 no longer a part of Haskell.  I'm looking for advice on books or tutorials
 that might be more up to date.



 So far I'm finding Haskell difficult – I may be too thick.



 Regards

 Chris Saunders
 ___
 Haskell-Cafe mailing list
 Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org
 http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe




-- 
Tom Harper
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
+1 949 235 0185
Public Key: http://aftereternity.co.uk/rth.asc
___
Haskell-Cafe mailing list
Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org
http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe


Re: [Haskell-cafe] Learning advice

2007-09-06 Thread Brent Yorgey
On 9/6/07, Chris Saunders [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 So far I'm finding Haskell difficult – I may be too thick.

Once upon a time there was a young man who wanted to be a race car driver.
He bought an old, junky car with a souped-up engine (after all, that's what
all his friends were using).  It didn't go very fast, but it was easy enough
to drive.  It did have its quirks, of course -- in order to start it you had
to be parked on an uphill slope, turn the steering wheel three-quarters to
the right, and jiggle the key in a certain way; it would also stall every
time you shifted from second into third gear, unless you simultaneously put
your foot on the brake and turned on the hazard lights; not to mention how
the windshield wipers came on every time you used the left turn signal.  But
he actually got pretty good at driving it.  He and his friends would race
around the block and in empty parking lots.

Then one day he met someone else who said she was also a race car driver,
but her car was different -- she called it a Haskar.  It had a top speed
of 400 miles per hour, no steering wheel (you just lean whichever way you
want to go, she said), and a frictionless, silent magnetic engine.  Even
more strangely, you could get one for free!  This sounded too good to be
true, and naturally the young man wanted to try it out.  So he got his very
own Haskar, and entered a race that the woman recommended to him.  The
Haskar race took place on a real racetrack with banked curves, cheering
fans, and officials with colored flags.  The man came in last.  Gosh, he
thought.  I always used to beat my friends when we raced around the block,
but this Haskar thing is pretty tough to drive.  I guess I'm just an
innately bad race car driver.

--

OK, I like making up stories and analogies, I hope you'll humor me. =)  The
point, of course, is that finding Haskell difficult is completely normal,
because Haskell directly exposes you to fundamental issues in logic,
computation, type systems, and so on, which are themselves difficult.  It
doesn't mean you're too thick.  Stick with it -- it may be difficult, but in
time you'll become more comfortable with Haskell, and learn a lot of other
things besides.  And hopefully you'll have some fun, too. =)

This list is a great place to ask questions, and you'll find that the
#haskell channel on irc.freenode.net is a great place to hang out, ask
questions, and learn things as well.  (Think of it as that bar where all the
drivers go to relax between races. =)

-Brent
___
Haskell-Cafe mailing list
Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org
http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe


Re: [Haskell-cafe] Learning advice

2007-09-06 Thread Tom Harper
Don't bang your head against a wall too long.  Like Brent said,
#haskell is quite a good resource.  There's always (and I mean ALWAYS)
a group of people online at any given time that can answer your
questions.

On 9/6/07, Chris Saunders [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 Thanks to all that responded (I enjoyed very much the story).  From the 
 response below I think my thickness is showing too much and I'll try a 
 little harder on my own first.

 Thanks again,
 Chris Saunders

 -Original Message-
 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tom Harper
 Sent: September-06-07 12:21 PM
 To: Chris Saunders
 Cc: haskelll-cafe
 Subject: Re: [Haskell-cafe] Learning advice

 No, that book is not outdated.  Can you give an example of what's not
 working for you?



 --
 Tom Harper
 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 +1 949 235 0185
 Public Key: http://aftereternity.co.uk/rth.asc




-- 
Tom Harper
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
+1 949 235 0185
Public Key: http://aftereternity.co.uk/rth.asc
___
Haskell-Cafe mailing list
Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org
http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe


RE: [Haskell-cafe] Learning advice

2007-09-06 Thread Chris Saunders
Thanks to all that responded (I enjoyed very much the story).  From the 
response below I think my thickness is showing too much and I'll try a little 
harder on my own first.

Thanks again,
Chris Saunders

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tom Harper
Sent: September-06-07 12:21 PM
To: Chris Saunders
Cc: haskelll-cafe
Subject: Re: [Haskell-cafe] Learning advice

No, that book is not outdated.  Can you give an example of what's not
working for you?



-- 
Tom Harper
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
+1 949 235 0185
Public Key: http://aftereternity.co.uk/rth.asc

___
Haskell-Cafe mailing list
Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org
http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe