[Haskell-cafe] Re: Python?

[John Goerzen]

On 2005-05-10, Daniel Carrera <dcarrera at digitaldistribution.com> wrote:
> This might be a strange question to ask on a Haskell list, but I do want 
> to hear your opinions. What do you think of Python?

I switched from Python to Haskell recently, almost completely.

To me, there are two main advantages of Python over Haskell: breadth of
available libraries and quality of documentation for beginners.  I
believe that the Haskell language is better, and I use it even for small
scripting tasks -- for which it seems just as well-suited as Python to
me.

There are, IMHO, two schools of thought regarding how to teach people
programming.  Some people hold that the best way is to start with a
low-level language such as C, and show them how to use pointers,
implement linked lists, etc.  Others hold that it's better to start with
a higher-level language.  Python and Haskell are both inappropriate for
the former, but could both work for the latter.

-- John