probably what confused me the most about the data construct when I started learning it was that the examples used the same word for the typename and the data constructor, so it was unclear that they are actually separate ideas.

I think you hit the nail on the head. The use of single character identifiers--in the documentation, I don't have so much of a problem with their use for local vars in actual code--is a big barrier to understanding.

If the docs (and maybe the type signatures generated by ghci) used somewhat more verbose identifiers (typeA instead of just a or funcA instead of f or p etc.), I think it would make it easier to assimilate.

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
Lingua non convalesco, consenesco et abolesco. -- Rule 1 has a caveat! -- Who broke the cabal?
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
The "good enough" maybe good enough for the now, and perfection maybe unobtainable, but that should not preclude us from striving for perfection, when time, circumstance or desire allow.

In reply to Re^17: World's shortest intro to function programming by BrowserUk
in thread Thread on Joel on software forum : "I hate Perl programmers." by techcode

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