Should I Learn Haskell or Python?

Should I learn Haskell or Python?

Haskell has a steep learning curve. Even learning the basics is hard.

I know I might have to climb a learning curve and get over the hump. I don't want to fall down it.

It was designed by academics in a committee, so it has all the hallmarks of bureaucracy written into it.

I heard it is for strong types and good for teaching you strict logic.

It is strongly typed, for a functional programming language. But you can teach yourself logical mapping of coding, without having to learn a software language rarely ever used.

Haskell is supposed to be more robust in terms of code. And Haskell has a good debugger.

And it has a horrible graphics user interface.

What about Python?

Python is one of the easiest programming languages to learn. And Python can be used in natural language processing and computer vision.

Perfect for nerds, then. Is it widely used?

Python has many variations, probably rivaling C. You can find C + Python for CPython, Java + Python for Jython, Iron Python and others.

That's like C, C++, C#, and some day, we'll see C cubed.

Python plays well with Django and other web frameworks. That adds to its popularity.

It's slower than C.

And it is slower than Haskell.

Not so fast. Why would you work with a slower language?

Given the speed of today's CPUs, it is the interoperability that matters more than its theoretical speed. But it depends on how you look at it.

Its GUI support is about as bad as Haskell's.

Go for Python. You'll be able to find a job with it, which is the true measure of a programmer's worth.

Why isn't Haskell more popular, if it is a faster, more elegant programming solution?

That's the problem with academics. They are trying to sell art to engineers.

You're right. They don't care how ugly it is, just how well it solves their problems.

And Python has a track record of solving problems, both mathematical and technical.

[Greamzih]

Asking whether one should learn Haskell or Python is like asking whether one should study Science or a foreign language. They serve different purposes, have very little resemblance and you definitely should know both.

[XOPGAMINGX]

Haskell looks so good damn cool, that's why I'm learning it

[Greamzih]

Did you pick two languages for this video by a random number generator? Haskell and Python have so few things in common that it's difficult to come up with a more ridiculous pair for comparison. I did try and my variant "Should I learn Ruby or Fortran" is not nearly as absurd.

[taluladae]

The satire in these videos is amazing! :D <3

[kirillerofeev]

If you know haskell you nearly know all the other languages. But it is not vice versa

[HaskellMadrid]

hmmm you need to study a lot, learning Haskell or Python. Haskell is like mathematics even the function definition, no side effects and plus you can catch type errors in compilation time.