[Haskell wikibook] Re: "List of topics" meta-module

[Daniel Mlot]

On 05/13/2010 07:34 AM, Heinrich Apfelmus wrote:
>
> I've added the new structure for "Haskell Basics" as I envision it,
> neatly put into a table next to the old one.

It looks sound. Next step is considering how the "Elementary" / 
"Intermediate" modules would have to change to accommodate the reshuffle.

(By the way, I like your preference of guards and where over if, case 
and let for the "Basics" - not only because they are the simpler, but 
also because they are more distant from the usual procedural syntax, 
thus helping a bit to push newbies towards a paradigm shift.)

> I'm still a bit hazy on the cheat sheet chapter, because it needs to do
> several things simultaneously:
>
> * introduce each category and mention which functions are important and
> which are not; pointing to more detailed discussion for lists and IO
> * present a quick overview list of the functions
> * give a slightly more detailed account of each function
>
> The idea is that the reader is given some exercises and he'll have to
> hunt the right functions for these tasks.
>

I set up a mock-up cheat sheet at 
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Haskell/Experimental_Modules/Cheat_sheet_prototype_1 
. I structured it thinking on one appendix (or several ones) linked from 
the main "Building a vocabulary" module, where the more verbose 
discussions would be. The infrastructure could be easily adapted to 
different schemes, of course. Writing good and precise one-line 
descriptions of functions can be tricky (for instance, in my examples I 
don't like the way I described the folds and scans), but at least it 
looks neat.

Regards,

Daniel Mlot