I am planning to give a workshop on FP using Haskell. The audience will be programmers with quite a bit of experience with conventional languages like Java and .net . I want to give them some feeling about FP. And hopefully, they will become interested so they want more...
My recommendations: - don't go for advanced coding styles or wow applications - don't just walk through finished code, show how Haskell allows you to work with code (understanding and changing code, types as machine-checked documentation, effect control, abstracting out ideas for reuse, ..) you could: - show how to find relevant pieces of code in a large project, how to understand the piece, and how problematic interactions may be limited, compared to Java-like languages - build up working code from empty (risky, but some Scala introductions have used this, and managed to give listeners the impression that they "get" what they see, and that they might be able to reproduce it) - take working code, then refactor it; for instance, start with "simple" code not too different from what an imperative coder might write, then start factoring out reusable patterns (when you get to factoring out control structures, you can go beyond what is easy in Java, and you can motivate introducing some of the more fancy Haskell idioms, in context) Don't be afraid of things going wrong, but have a script, know your tools: your audience will be interested to see what you do when the unexpected happens (debugging support, source navigation, ...). As usual, have a fallback, to rescue the talk if you cannot fix things on the spot. - it helps to know your audience: the advantages of Haskell over Java are different from those over Javascript; .Net coders might have different needs again (libraries; might prefer F# or something else that runs on the platform) - complex apps or advanced coding patterns might wow the audience (didn't think that was possible), but will they try to reproduce that (will they even get the idea?)? - simple everyday tasks solved in simple coding patterns might not wow in themselves, but make it easier to follow the language differences, and can be built on - try for a steady pace through the whole presentation (too many Haskell talks start great, then either take off and leave the audience behind, or lose pace and direction as the speaker tries to fill the time) If the authors agree, it might be good to take an existing talk and try to adapt/improve it. Would be good to work toward one set of slides that can give a starting point for such talks: a general set that one can point to, and sets of modifications that tune the general set to different audiences. There are lots of introduction to Haskell talks/slides on the web, btw., including these hands-on ones: http://bos.github.com/strange-loop-2011/slides/slides.html (google for alternatives, but being on github, with an easy HTML interface, allows for collaborative improvements) My main recommendation again: don't just show working code, show how to work with code. Claus
I am wondering what package is suitable to be used as an example too? It needs to fulfill at least the following requirements: + I have to be able to explain the purpose of the software in no more than 1 or 2 minutes + There should be parts of the code that can be easily linked to the purpose /use of the package + These code parts must show the 'prettiness' of Haskell + It would be nice if there is something GUI-like to demo, which runs under windows. + I prefer not to use some kind of a compiler as an example.