| title | date |
|---|---|
Beginner Books |
2020-05-06 |
- Programming in Haskell by Graham Hutton
- Thinking Functionally with Haskell by Richard Bird
u/serras writes:
I find Programming in Haskell 2nd edition to be the best Haskell book for beginners to the language. It is not super-fast-paced, but in 200 pages it teaches you all the principles of the language (yes, including functors and monads).
u/zanidor writes:
I loved the Hutton book as an intro to Haskell [...] Short, direct, and well motivated. It's what I recommend to anyone who asks me for advice on intro to Haskell books.
u/bravit writes:
I've read both of them. I prefer Manning's Get Programming with Haskell as it brings you to practical programming with Haskell very quickly. Explanations are clear and concise, you don't have to read pages and pages to get something. Every unit ends with a capstone project—they are fun to follow and can be easily extended if you want. Exercises are very helpful to get deeper understanding. Traditionally hard topics like monads etc. are clearly motivated and well explained. This book goes as deep as JSON parsing, HTTP requests, database access and even mutating arrays in ST Monad. There is a small problem in the Unit 1 where the author is too close to his Lisp background and as a result some examples seem strange a little bit for Haskellers. Aside from that the book is very useful.
My main complaint against Haskell Programming From First Principles (HPFFP) is its length. I cannot imagine learning through so long material with thorough and perfectly correct but extremely boring explanations and absolutely impractical superficial examples. Nevertheless I've read tons of good reviews about it. Maybe too many for the book on Haskell.