The dreaded M-R

[Ganesh Sittampalam]

On Thu, 26 Jan 2006, John Hughes wrote:

> (Some object that := "means" assignment--but come on, 
> we're not reserving := for future use as assignment in Haskell, are we? 
> Why should we give up a perfectly good symbol because it's used 
> elsewhere to mean something else?).

Programmers unfamiliar with Haskell but familiar with general 
programming ideas would be confused by it. I think this is a good reason 
to avoid (mis)use of this symbol.

Quite a lot has been mentioned in various threads including this one about 
making sure that Haskell stays/becomes an easy/easier language to teach to 
undergraduates. However, there is a large and growing community of 
experienced programmers coming to Haskell and liking it, and we must keep 
them in mind too. A lot of them use the #haskell IRC channel as a 
resource, and as a regular there I have the impression that the numbers 
are on their way up quite rapidly.

Cheers,

Ganesh