
Hello everyone- Unfortunately, at my university, we don't do much in the way of functional programming. At all. So I've been trying to work on it outside of class as much as possible. I'm going through the exercises in SICP. I've picked up "The Haskell School of Expression," as well as " Basic Category Theory for Computer Scientists." (which I'm finding is not very basic, at least for someone as new to the topic as I am) I've subscribed to this mailing list. But what else can I do? While my fall classes are scheduled, my spring classes must consist of 15 credits of anything I want to take. Should I take some math courses? Which ones? Anything related that I should study? The best way to improve coding ability is to actually code. But I'm attempting to do everything I can, and so suggestions as to how you all improve yourselves and your abilities would be welcomed.

The Haskell School of Expression is very good. Maybe use what you learn there to write your own music? perhaps even render it visually with the graphics library described in the book.
The best way to improve coding ability is to actually code
or by reading other people's code. The book "Beautiful Code" has some
interesting stuff, including one great chapter about concurrency by GHC's
Simon Peyton Jones.
-Greg
On Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 10:45 PM, Steve Klabnik
Hello everyone-
Unfortunately, at my university, we don't do much in the way of functional programming. At all. So I've been trying to work on it outside of class as much as possible. I'm going through the exercises in SICP. I've picked up "The Haskell School of Expression," as well as " Basic Category Theory for Computer Scientists." (which I'm finding is not very basic, at least for someone as new to the topic as I am)
I've subscribed to this mailing list.
But what else can I do? While my fall classes are scheduled, my spring classes must consist of 15 credits of anything I want to take. Should I take some math courses? Which ones? Anything related that I should study?
The best way to improve coding ability is to actually code. But I'm attempting to do everything I can, and so suggestions as to how you all improve yourselves and your abilities would be welcomed.
_______________________________________________ Beginners mailing list Beginners@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/beginners

On Fri, Jul 18, 2008 at 2:02 AM, Greg Fitzgerald
The Haskell School of Expression is very good. Maybe use what you learn there to write your own music? perhaps even render it visually with the graphics library described in the book.
Hm. That's an interesting idea...I'll look into that.
The best way to improve coding ability is to actually code
or by reading other people's code. The book "Beautiful Code" has some interesting stuff, including one great chapter about concurrency by GHC's Simon Peyton Jones.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll add it to my reading list. -Steve

Steve Klabnik wrote:
Unfortunately, at my university, we don't do much in the way of functional programming. At all. So I've been trying to work on it outside of class as much as possible. I'm going through the exercises in SICP. I've picked up "The Haskell School of Expression," as well as " Basic Category Theory for Computer Scientists." (which I'm finding is not very basic, at least for someone as new to the topic as I am)
I'd also recommend Richard Bird. Introduction to Functional Programming in Haskell.
But what else can I do? While my fall classes are scheduled, my spring classes must consist of 15 credits of anything I want to take. Should I take some math courses? Which ones? Anything related that I should study?
While not directly related, taking math courses improves your Haskell skills automatically :) Discrete mathematics is the umbrella term for the math you want, which includes things like graph theory, combinatorics and logic. Intuitionistic logic and type theory are directly related to Haskell.
The best way to improve coding ability is to actually code.
Try some problems at http://projecteuler.net/ Regards, apfelmus

Go to your adviser and request an independent study course, with functional programming as its purpose. -w

On Fri, Jul 18, 2008 at 7:50 AM, Chad Wilson
Go to your adviser and request an independent study course, with functional programming as its purpose.
-w
Also a great idea. I think I would need to come up with a more focused topic, however...good thing I've got well over a semester to think about it. -Steve
participants (4)
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apfelmus
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Chad Wilson
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Greg Fitzgerald
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Steve Klabnik