Paul Hudak
1 The Haskell School of Expression
As an experienced programmer new to Haskell I found this book both enlightening and frustrating. The author does a superb job of teaching you how to think like a functional programmer, his stated goal, but occasionally leaps over too many steps for a beginner to follow his implementations. The book is however quite readable and works well in conjunction with the various on-line tutorials on Haskell syntax. I'd recommend the book for anyone looking to get into serious functional programming.
2 Brings out the "fun" in functional programming
I already knew Haskell when I started reading this book, but it held my interest right through to the end. This is largely due to Hudak's choice of interesting application domains (graphics, animation, robotics, music) and how neatly applications in these domains can be expressed in Haskell. (As an advanced reader, I was particularly interested in the treatment of the design and implementation of his functional animation language.) More than just that, though, the book's success derives from a very nice blending of theory and practice. I especially liked his use of calculational reasoning as a approachable form of program proof. I highly recommend this book if you want to learn functional programming--tastefully--and have fun while doing it.
3 Learn to write better and nicer programs
An excelent book on programming. Every programmer that wants to go beyond just the syntax of a programming language, no matter which one, should read this text. You will not only learn Haskell syntax but you will actually master *thinking functionaly*.
After reading the first half of the book , I find myself much more comfortable with 2nd order programming and , as I use mostly C++ and Java in my professional carrier, I start to miss the elegance and high level of abstraction supported by functional languages.
A book that will help you to master Haskell and change the way you think about programms.
4 Interesting but not good for a first book.
This text is nicely produced and has some interesting examples of Haskell programming. However, the book is mainly examples of Haskell and functional programming rather than explanations of Haskell and FP. The exposition is spotty and assumes a lot. It would best be considered a second book for those learning Haskell.
5 Outstanding book!
This book takes a nice approach to teaching functional programming. Paul Hudak uses fun examples, with applications to multimedia. Early on you are using the graphics library to make shapes in windows, and by the end there is Haskore, a cool way to compose music. However, these examples are not JUST fun, they also serve as nice examples of how to think about and construct functional programs, in domains where functional programs really excel. If you ever thought about learning what this stuff was about, this book is the right choice!
