[wellylug] Non-standard languages on Linux

[jfouhy at paradise.net.nz]

Quoting jumbophut <jumbophut at gmail.com>:

> * Python: the language behind Gentoo's portage and Google.
> 
> <http://diveintopython.org/> (freely downloadable book, easy reading)
> <http://www.pythonchallenge.com/pc/index.htm> (I have only made it to
> problem 7 and I've been stuck so long I'm close to giving in and
> looking for a hint in the forums).

Python is a beautiful language.  If your job involves C++ or Java or other
mainstream languages, I recommend avoiding Python in the interests of
maintaining job satisfaction :-)

I'm up to riddle 7 as well ... Someone on the Python tutor list said that they
solved it in "a couple of lines" using PIL.  So maybe I'll take another look...
 
> * Haskell: purer than lisp (i.e. very pure)

I don't know lisp, but I always thought it was close to a direct implementation
of the lambda calculus.. so I'm not sure how you can get more pure than lisp :-/
(but ICBW)

I never understood monads either, which makes Haskell hard to use for
interactive work.

Here is a cool paper using Haskell in the world of financial contracts:
http://research.microsoft.com/users/simonpj/Papers/financial-contracts/contracts-icfp.htm
(don't be put off by the topic; this is actually really neat)
 
-- 
John.