> I am planning to give a workshop on FP using Haskell.
> The audience will be programmers with quite a bit of
> experience with conventional languages like Java and
> .net . I want to give them some feeling about FP. And
> hopefully, they will become interested so they want more...
My recommendations:
- don't go for advanced coding styles or wow applications
- don't just walk through finished code, show how
Haskell allows you to work with code (understanding
and changing code, types as machine-checked
documentation, effect control, abstracting out ideas
for reuse, ..)
you could:
- show how to find relevant pieces of code in a large
project, how to understand the piece, and how
problematic interactions may be limited, compared
to Java-like languages
- build up working code from empty (risky, but some
Scala introductions have used this, and managed to
give listeners the impression that they "get" what
they see, and that they might be able to reproduce it)
- take working code, then refactor it; for instance, start
with "simple" code not too different from what an
imperative coder might write, then start factoring
out reusable patterns (when you get to factoring out
control structures, you can go beyond what is easy
in Java, and you can motivate introducing some of
the more fancy Haskell idioms, in context)
Don't be afraid of things going wrong, but have a script,
know your tools: your audience will be interested to see
what you do when the unexpected happens (debugging
support, source navigation, ...). As usual, have a fallback,
to rescue the talk if you cannot fix things on the spot.
- it helps to know your audience: the advantages of Haskell
over Java are different from those over Javascript; .Net
coders might have different needs again (libraries; might
prefer F# or something else that runs on the platform)
- complex apps or advanced coding patterns might wow
the audience (didn't think that was possible), but will
they try to reproduce that (will they even get the idea?)?
- simple everyday tasks solved in simple coding patterns
might not wow in themselves, but make it easier to
follow the language differences, and can be built on
- try for a steady pace through the whole presentation
(too many Haskell talks start great, then either take off
and leave the audience behind, or lose pace and direction
as the speaker tries to fill the time)
If the authors agree, it might be good to take an existing
talk and try to adapt/improve it. Would be good to work
toward one set of slides that can give a starting point for
such talks: a general set that one can point to, and sets of
modifications that tune the general set to different audiences.
There are lots of introduction to Haskell talks/slides on
the web, btw., including these hands-on ones:
http://bos.github.com/strange-loop-2011/slides/slides.html
(google for alternatives, but being on github, with an easy
HTML interface, allows for collaborative improvements)
My main recommendation again: don't just show working
code, show how to work with code.
Claus
> I am wondering what package is suitable to be used as
> an example too? It needs to fulfill at least the following
> requirements:
> + I have to be able to explain the purpose of the software
> in no more than 1 or 2 minutes
> + There should be parts of the code that can be easily
> linked to the purpose /use of the package
> + These code parts must show the 'prettiness' of Haskell
> + It would be nice if there is something GUI-like to demo,
> which runs under windows.
> + I prefer not to use some kind of a compiler as an example.
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