[Haskell-beginners] A first try

[Clint Moore]

On Fri, Jun 24, 2011 at 11:10 AM, Manfred Lotz <manfred.lotz at arcor.de> wrote:
> Hi David,
>
> On Fri, 24 Jun 2011 08:43:59 -0400
> David Place <d at vidplace.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi, Panagiotis.
>>
>> The wc program is a good choice for a learning program, but it
>> reveals a long-standing weakness in Haskell: Lazy-IO.
>
>
> Is it really a weakness of Haskell or just something one has to get used
> to it? That is a question I would like to get opinions from the experts!

No, the only weakness (imo) with lazy io is a beginners understanding
of its implications.  There are options, most notably iteratees.  Lazy
IO, much like lazy evaluation, are definitely different than what you
might expect from other languages, but I think it's a huge mistake,
especially when you are just starting out, to categorize them as
weaknesses.