"Hamilton Richards Jr." wrote:
>
> One of the more clear-eyed (IMHO) and successful authors of C++ texts is
> Cay Horstmann. A feature of his text, "Mastering C++" (Wiley, 1991), which
> I like is the section, appearing at the end of each chapter, entitled
> "Pitfalls" (the idea comes from Andrew Koenig's book, "C Traps and
> Pitfalls"). Some of the pitfalls describe ordinary programming mistakes,
> but the majority are "gotchas" caused by shortcomings in C++'s design of
> (many of them faithful copies of mistakes in C). Horstmann gives a very
> entertaining lecture on the topic of C++ pitfalls; a full hour does not
> suffice to mention them all.
Yes I know C++ has many pitfalls I never said it was beautiful, however
it is powerful. And this power is the reason I like C++ so.
> With time and patience, one can learn to think in C++, and it's quite
> possible to write beautiful and efficient code in it (I'm a bit partial to
> some of my own efforts). I believe, however, that one cannot fully
> appreciate a programming language's strengths amnd weaknesses until one has
> tried teaching it to a variety of students. Having done that, I'm here to
> attest that Haskell's syntax --to say nothing of its semantics-- is much
> cleaner, much simpler, and much easier to learn.
Yes Haskell syntax is MUCH nicer than just about ANY other language out
they. That is what first drew me into Haskell. Unfortunately Haskell,
like Java in some ways, is also a simple language. I don't like
languages that try to stay simple because doing complex things in simple
languages in well, frustrating. Can you agree with me here?
I strongly agree that Haskell can become a *much* more powerful language
with out losing any of clean syntax or semantics. However, when ever I
bring up limitations of Haskell type system on this list I either get
ignorance or resistance. I get the distant felling that most people on
this list like Haskell simplicity and fell that making it any more
powerful than it is will ruin it. Well if that is truly how most people
fell I am just wasting my time with Haskell and should just go back to
using C++ with all its flaws, and never grace the presence of any
Haskell user again.
--
Kevin Atkinson
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://metalab.unc.edu/kevina/
