[Haskell-cafe] I 'd like to set up shop in Re: Haskell's market

[Shae Matijs Erisson]

Pete Chown <1 at 234.cx> writes:

> One snag is that I doubt you could ring up an agency and ask for half a dozen
> Haskell programmers.  You could probably get people who did a bit of
> functional programming as part of a computer science degree, but that may not
> be enough for your needs.  (Having said that, if you did manage to find
> contract Haskell programmers, you would probably get people who were highly
> skilled, and enthusiastic about the chance to use the language.)

Me me! Pick me! Oh I'd love to do contract work with Haskell.

> In other words, Haskell might be a good answer technically, but it could
> paint the client into a corner business-wise.

I could easily come up with a bunch of resumes or CVs from smart #haskell
people who would enjoy doing contract work in Haskell.
(where bunch = at least ten, and probably more than twenty)

> I currently have a small amount of business logic that is implemented in
> Haskell, and I want to see it increase, but I'm always worried that this is
> going to happen.  I don't want a job for life maintaining this stuff, I want
> to delegate it to others at an appropriate time.

Me me! Pick me!

> You might find that Java, for example, would have more support for this type
> of application, out of the box.  Although Java is an unimaginative language,
> I find that productivity isn't too bad, mainly because there is plenty of
> library support for typical applications.  With Haskell, writing the business
> logic is quicker, but some of the time saved gets spent implementing things
> that come as standard with Java.

Libraries need to be implemented only once, after that everything gets faster.
Plus there's a lot more Haskell code out there than most people know about.
If you're looking for something specific, ask on the #haskell channel or here
on the mailing lists.

> I'm finding this quite a struggle, to be honest.  I can cope easily with the
> various homework assignments that get posted here, but I find it hard
> thinking about large applications in functional terms.  I'm building up to
> larger applications, but I'd feel nervous tackling something the size you are
> talking about at the moment.

I'm fond of monad transformers for structuring larger applications.
More details upon request...
-- 
I've tried to teach people autodidactism,                | ScannedInAvian.com
but it seems they always have to learn it for themselves.| Shae Matijs Erisson