=================================== Helium (for learning Haskell) 1.0 =================================== We are pleased to announce the first public release of the Helium system, consisting of a language, compiler and interpreter designed especially for education in functional programming. It is being developed at the Software Technology group of the Institute of Information and Computing Sciences of Utrecht University in the Netherlands. CURRENT RELEASE The language is a (large) subset of Haskell 98. Most notable difference is the absence of type classes. Without type classes, types are simpler and more specific type errors can be given. The compiler gives high-quality error messages with exact locations and sometimes hints (e.g. in the case of misspelled names). Warnings are given for unused parameters, shadowing and more. The most sophisticated part is the type checker which uses a novel constraint-based inferencer to improve type error messages. The compiler generates portable byte codes for the Lazy Virtual Machine (cf. JVM for Java) resulting in a system that is a magnitude faster than Hugs. The Helium interpreter "Hi" is a Hugs-like application which is built on top of the compiler. Together these features make Helium a fine tool for teaching environments. We have experienced that friendlier compiler messages make learning functional programming more fun for our students. More information and downloads can be found at the Helium homepage: http://www.cs.uu.nl/~afie/helium/index.html FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS - User manuals for the different tools - (Closed world) type classes - A more visually pleasing and powerful interpreter - More libraries (e.g. GUI) - Binary distributions for more platforms With kind regards, the Helium team