Stefan Monnier wrote:
I have a lady friend who wants to learn how to program. She's a technical person, but has no math background to speak of. I can't decide whether to start with a clear-syntax imperative language (Ruby) or a functional language (Haskell). I confess I've been leaning towards Ruby.
In my limited experience it's easier to learn an imperative language after a functional one than the reverse. So I'd recommend she start with Haskell. It's actually easy to learn if you haven't been lobotomized by Java/C/C++.
:-) Maybe that's why I like it so far. I haven't been corrupted yet :-) I don't know Java. I glanced at C++ and decided I don't want it. I like C, but I program it at an amateurish level. I'll keep your thoughts in mind. In your opinion, do you think Haskell is appropriate for someone with zero math background? I can't imagine how I'd explain something like currying to someone who doesn't know math. Cheers, Daniel.