[Haskell-cafe] Haskell not ready for Foo [was: Re: Hypothetical Haskell job in New York]

[John A. De Goes]

On Jan 15, 2009, at 9:31 AM, John Goerzen wrote:
> By "pure" do you mean "containing python code only"?  I'm looking
> through a few, and:

Search for "pure python mysql" or "pure python postgresql" and you'll  
see at least two implementations. In addition, there are plenty of  
pure Python databases for those who want and are able to stay strictly  
within Python.

>> I don't think it's a bold assertion. If I'm using a Haskell library  
>> that
>> wraps a C library, and find a bug in it, my chances of tracking  
>> down the
>> bug in C code and submitting a patch to whatever group maintains it  
>> are
>> exactly zero. On the other hand, if it's a pure Haskell library,  
>> I'll at
>
> Why?

I'm tired of C. I'm not going to use any unpaid time writing or  
maintaining anything written in C.

I assume if C were my favorite language, I'd be hanging around c-cafe  
instead of haskell-cafe. :-)

> You have to balance that against the chances of there being bugs in
> code that is used by far fewer people.

That's true.

> It's a lot of wheel reinvention to try to re-implement a database
> protocol in n languages instead of do it in 1 and bind to it
> everywhere else.

Why is wheel reinvention a bad thing? A combination of cooperation and  
competition is best for every endeavor. We have lots of companies in  
the business of making tires, each trying to outdo the other, but for  
any given company, they are all united behind the goal of producing  
the best possible tire. The consumers benefit.

> AFAIK, the only language where that sort of wheel reinvention is
> popular is Java.  But then Java seems to encourage wheel reinvention
> anyhow ;-)

The Java reinventions look and feel like Java, because they're native  
implementations. This is even more important in Haskell where the  
differences between Haskell and C is about as large as you can get.

Regards,

John