Date of publication: 2007
Haskell is a functional programming language. If you have programmed before and would like to see a little bit of how Haskell works and is different from other programming languages, you can get an overview.
Haskell is unique for two reasons. The first is that it is purely functional. If you have a function and you call it twice in two different places with the same arguments then it will return exactly the same value both times. Secondly, Haskell provides a very modern type system which incorporates features like typeclasses and generalized algebraic data types. We don't expect you to know what these terms mean for now, but we do hope they'll be rolling smoothly off your tongue by the time you are done with this book. So, why do Haskellers like the language then? Is it just because we like using things that are unique and modern? No, Haskell programmers enjoy their work because dealing with just pure functions makes it so much easier to understand our programs and prove them correct. Moreover, having an advanced type system helps us catch our mistakes, both the silly and profound ones.
In this book we aim to introduce you both to the Haskell language, from the very basics to its most advanced features, and to computer programming in general. Seasoned programmers, we urge you to be especially patient with this process. In all likelihood, the languages you are most familiar with differ greatly from Haskell, and habits from those languages might make it more difficult to understand how things work: simple, but different. So treat this as an adventure, a whole different world, seeing programming through the warped and mathematical mindset of a functional programmer.
(From Wikibooks, description text under GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL))
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