Why, because I missed a point of data in the ocean of hype and there is one? Two? Please, set the record straight, and provide us with some facts. Maybe in Haskell's 20 year history as the world's most hyped language there was one or two or maybe three non-compiler programs written in it that aren't very small. Maybe there is even one anecdote out there with some actual information in it, although I've looked for one -- a lot -- and couldn't find any. So right now, the people who are making stuff up and passing them off as fact are those who claim significant impact over and over and over without a shred of even the tiniest of anecdotal data. How is that justified?
I have absolutely no problem saying that Haskell works better for large interactive software than other languages, once there are a couple of anecdotes around, but the fact is that currently there aren't any (at least none that I could find). What we have at the moment is a lot of vague claims with zero metrics.
But perhaps I should explain the source of my skepticism. First, it stems from the almost unprecedented gap between hype and evidence. I would imagine that after so many years, given the grand claims there would at least be some good anecdotes. That there aren't any, inspires skepticism. Someone here likened Haskell's abstractions to load bearing materials as opposed to other language's mud. If that were true, the reasonable prediction would be to see Haskell skyscrapers towering over a sea of mud hats; that we actually observe the opposite, inspires skepticism. Second, it stems from my general skepticism (based on CS theory and 20 years of experience) towards the impact any language can make. I.e., I have not encountered a case where the choice of language was the determining factor. Haskell is perhaps the most notable example of a language that claims to make a significant difference by virtue of language-level features (as opposed to runtime features, like GC). I would very much like to see how big that contribution is, if it exists at all.
I'm not talking about Haskell, i'm talking about Scala written in a functional style where we've used a lot of the concepts from Haskell. We're using it at Verizon for extremely large projects and it's working quite well. I know you've been pointed that out by others, so when you say there's no anecdotal data, how can you justify that?
I've talked to others who work at extremely large corporations finding success with it too in extremely large projects.
I am not looking for anecdotes that it is possible to write large programs in a pure functional style. I know it is possible. But, given the high cost of the approach (training, new libraries, maybe a new language and even a new platform) I am looking for anecdotes that the approach provides benefits that significantly outweigh its cost. I have not found any.
BTW, "extremely large projects" are anything above, say 20MLOC. What projects of that size have been written in pure functional style? What large projects (>5MLOC) have?
Why, because I missed a point of data in the ocean of hype and there is one? Two? Please, set the record straight, and provide us with some facts. Maybe in Haskell's 20 year history as the world's most hyped language there was one or two or maybe three non-compiler programs written in it that aren't very small. Maybe there is even one anecdote out there with some actual information in it, although I've looked for one -- a lot -- and couldn't find any. So right now, the people who are making stuff up and passing them off as fact are those who claim significant impact over and over and over without a shred of even the tiniest of anecdotal data. How is that justified?
I have absolutely no problem saying that Haskell works better for large interactive software than other languages, once there are a couple of anecdotes around, but the fact is that currently there aren't any (at least none that I could find). What we have at the moment is a lot of vague claims with zero metrics.
But perhaps I should explain the source of my skepticism. First, it stems from the almost unprecedented gap between hype and evidence. I would imagine that after so many years, given the grand claims there would at least be some good anecdotes. That there aren't any, inspires skepticism. Someone here likened Haskell's abstractions to load bearing materials as opposed to other language's mud. If that were true, the reasonable prediction would be to see Haskell skyscrapers towering over a sea of mud hats; that we actually observe the opposite, inspires skepticism. Second, it stems from my general skepticism (based on CS theory and 20 years of experience) towards the impact any language can make. I.e., I have not encountered a case where the choice of language was the determining factor. Haskell is perhaps the most notable example of a language that claims to make a significant difference by virtue of language-level features (as opposed to runtime features, like GC). I would very much like to see how big that contribution is, if it exists at all.