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Raziel123 comments on How has lesswrong changed your life? - Less Wrong Discussion
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May I ask what is the utility of Haskell? Or rather, in what field it has one? Functional programming as a shortcut is great, but Python has that covered. Even C# LINQ has that covered, for most pragmatic functional programming is about writing domain-specific query languages, as a lot of complicated programming can be reduced to input - massage the data - output. The rest often just library-juggling. As opposed to this pragmatically functional stuff, purely functional programming is largely about avoiding bugs of certain types, but in my experience 95% of bugs come from not of those types, but from misunderstanding requirements or requirements themselves being sloppy and chaotic. Pure functionality is largely about programming like a mathemathician, strictly formal and everything the result of reasoning instead of just cobbling things together by trial and error which tends to characterize most programming, but the kind of bugs this formalist attitude cuts down on is not really the kinds of bugs that actually annoy users. So I wonder what utility you found to Haskell.
I did not go very far in haskell, I was in a exploratory phase, the lack of libraries for haskell, make go to java, having being my only experienced with progaming the creation of map and mods with WarCraft 3 graphical Interface I took online courses and books on Python becouse was easy, and then Hakell just because is from another paradigm and it helped me understand more deeply recursion, types and many basic stuff than was hidden in Python( being a high level language).
I finally settle in Java because for its support, libraries and compatibility with Android, I'm not triying to "know it all" of computer science or programing not for lack of curiosity but for opportunity cost, I'm learning what I need to learn, and dedicate a fraction of my focus to learn seemingly unrelated thing to take care of the unknown unknowns.
Java as platform or as language? The platform is great but why use the language when the platform also offers Clojure or Scala? While I complained elsewhere about the lack of verbosity makes math hard to read for me, Java is the opposite, the boilerplate verbosity pisses me off i.e. that after reading SomeWhateverFactory someWhatEverFactory = new SomeWhateverFactory() after processing that line mentally I have learned nothing about what a program actually does, it convey precisely zero information about the actual human utility it delivers. Writing this bullshit may be made easier by tools, but reading is not.
I'm working with the java languague right now, but it's true I'm considered using scala after I finished my current project.