Hi Eil, Sorry, your email got lost in my inbox. I hope you don't mind me copying haskell-cafe.
I saw a video of a presentation you gave at CUFP awhile back and was hoping to ask you a couple of questions.
I'm currently a junior at UT Dallas and trying to figure out what I'm going to do after finishing undergrad. For the past two years or so one of my main interests has been language implementations. It's something that I'd like to continue to work with. For a long time I thought I wanted to stay in academia and do research, but recently I've realized that I'm more interested in applying these advanced programming languages to real-world problems, such as what you have done with the Atom DSL.
Good, we need more functional programmers actually solving real problems. But please put your skills to work in an industry other than investment banking.
So, I'm curious about your experiences with functional programming in industry. Have you found it hard to get companies interested in Haskell?
Yes, it is very hard. But it can also be very easy. The best approach is to find a job or industry that does not already have a large software component, but desperately needs one. This was the reason Haskell was successful at Eaton. Though Eaton is a huge company, this particular division had surprisingly few software developers, and even fewer managers who understood software development. In short, there was no one to question the move to Haskell. IMO, the biggest obstacle to Haskell are programmers -- especially shear numbers of them.
Is it difficult to hire good programmers for a less mainstream language?
No. Every time I put a call out for resumes, I've gotten several candidates that would have fit the bill. The problem has been convincing my management to interview these leads.
Have you had any trouble training people to use Haskell?
Yes. I find that out of 10 people I train, only about 2 pick it up and run with it. I'm starting to believe you are either wired for functional programming, or you're not.
Do many of the engineers using Haskell at Eaton have advanced degrees?
Actually most of Eaton's Haskell programmers do not have advanced degrees; myself included. In fact one of our most successful programmers was an automotive technician in his previous job. This supports my hypothesis that your functional programming aptitude is determined at birth. Best of luck with the job hunt. If by chance Eaton starts hiring again, I'll give you a ping. -Tom