Kurt - Get programming with Haskell

When I was first approached with the idea of writing Get Programming with Haskell, I was unsure of whether I should. At the time, my primary interest was in writing about probability topics on my blog, Count Bayesie. Though I had experience teaching both Haskell and functional programming in general, it had been a while, and I was frankly a bit rusty. My active interest in data science, probability, and machine learning were somewhat borne out of a personal frustration with Haskell. Sure, the language was beautiful and powerful, but in a few ugly lines of R and some linear algebra, I could perform sophisticated analysis and build models to predict the future; in Haskell I/O is nontrivial! I was hardly the evangelist to write a Haskell book.

Then I recalled a quote from J.D. Salinger in Seymour: An Introduction, where he describes the trick to writing:

Ask yourself, as a reader, what piece of writing in all the world ... would [you] most want to read if [you] had [your] hearts choice. The next step is terrible, but so simple I can hardly believe it as I write it. You just sit down shamelessly and write the thing yourself.

I realized this is exactly why I needed to write Get Programming with Haskell. There are a fair number of good Haskell books out there, but none scratched my particular itch for learning Haskell. Ive always wanted to read a book that shows you how to solve practical problems that are often a real pain in Haskell. I dont particularly care to see large, industrial-strength programs, but rather fun experiments that let you explore the world with this impressive programming language. Ive also always wanted to read a Haskell book thats reasonably short and that, when Im finished, enables me to feel comfortable doing all sorts of fun weekend projects in Haskell. It was with this realization that the Haskell book I wanted to read didnt yet exist that I decided that writing Get Programming with Haskell would be a good idea.

Now that Ive finished writing (and reading) this book, Im thrilled with how much fun Ive had. Haskell is an endlessly interesting language that always offers more to teach. Its a difficult language to learn, but thats part of the fun. Nearly every topic in this book is likely something you havent seen done quite the same way before (unless youre an experienced Haskeller). The joy of Haskell is opening yourself up to a rich learning experience. If you rush to master Haskell, youll be in for an awful time. If, however, you take the time to explore, to be a beginner again, youll find it endlessly rewarding.