There is a lot of hype around Haskell, however, it is hard to get information on how it is used in the real world applications. What are the most popular projects / usages of Haskell and why it excels at solving these problems?
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haskell
functional-programming
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I think people in this post are missing the most important point for anyone who has never used a functional programming language: expanding your mind. If you are new to functional programming then Haskell will make you think in ways you've never thought before. As a result your programming in other areas and other languages will improve. How much? Hard to quantify.
This is a pretty good source for info about Haskell and its uses:
From Haskell:
Haskell is a standardized, general-purpose purely functional programming language, with non-strict semantics and strong static typing. It is named after logician Haskell Curry.
Basically Haskell can be used to create pretty much anything you would normally create using other general-purpose languages (e.g. C#, Java, C, C++, etc.).
Haskell is a general purpose programming language. It can be used for anything you use any other language to do. You aren't limited by anything but your own imagination. As for what it's suited for? Well, pretty much everything. There are few tasks in which a functional language does not excel.
And yes, I'm the Rayne from Dreamincode. :)
I would also like to mention that, in case you haven't read the Wikipedia page, functional programming is a paradigm like Object Oriented programming is a paradigm. Just in case you didn't know. Haskell is also functional in the sense that it works; it works quite well at that.
Just because a language isn't an Object Oriented language doesn't mean the language is limited by anything. Haskell is a general-purpose programming language, and is just as general purpose as Java.
I have a cool one, facebook created a automated tool for rewriting PHP code. They parse the source into an abstract syntax tree, do some transformations:
if ($f == false) -> if (false == $f)
I don't know why, but that seems to be their particular style and then they pretty print it.
https://github.com/facebook/lex-pass
We use haskell for making small domain specific languages. Huge amounts of data processing. Web development. Web spiders. Testing applications. Writing system administration scripts. Backend scripts, which communicate with other parties. Monitoring scripts (we have a DSL which works nicely together with munin, makes it much easier to write correct monitor code for your applications.)
All kind of stuff actually. It is just a everyday general purpose language with some very powerful and useful features, if you are somewhat mathematically inclined.
One example of Haskell in action is xmonad, a "featureful window manager in less than 1200 lines of code".
There is one good answer for what a general purpose language like Haskell is good for: writing programs in general.
For what it is used for in practice, I've three approaches to establishing that:
Indicates that it is good for graphics, networking, systems programming, data structures, databases, development, text processing ...
And finally, my opinion on what it is really strong at:
I hope that gives you a sense on how broad your question is, if it is to be answered with any specificity.
From the Haskell Wiki:
Haskell has a diverse range of use commercially, from aerospace and defense, to finance, to web startups, hardware design firms and lawnmower manufacturers. This page collects resources on the industrial use of Haskell.
According to Wikipedia, the Haskell language was created out of the need to consolidate existing functional languages into a common one which could be used for future research in functional-language design.
It is apparent based on the information available that it has outgrown it's original purpose and is used for much more than research. It is now considered a general purpose functional programming language.
If you're still asking yourself, "Why should I use it?", then read the Why use it? section of the Haskell Wiki Introduction.
For example, for developing interactive, realtime HTML5 web applications. See Elm, the compiler of which is implemented in Haskell and the syntax of which borrows a lot from Haskell's.
Source: Stackoverflow.com