A Beginner’s Guide to Haskell Programming

Author: Peter Clarke

Haskell programming language has some interesting features and capabilities which separate it from all the major programming languages we know about. Unlike other programming languages, Haskell relies more on functions and less on the software programming. haskell programming assignment help This is the reason why students often require from experts. If you are willing to learn Haskell programming, here are 4 steps that you need to know to get started.

1. Install Haskell:

In order to install Haskell, you should go for the Haskell Platform. There you will get GHC, the standard Haskell compiler, along with other tools that will help you program Haskell. The installation generally supports most of the operating systems. If you face any difficulty, the online Haskell community can provide you with thecase sample coursework help.

2. Start Haskell:

Once you are done installing Haskell Platform, open the terminal and type ghci (the name of the executable of the GHC interpreter) at the command prompt. If you are on Windows, you can alternatively choose WinGHCI in the Start menu. As you perform the step, you are presented with a prompt, where you need to enter your instructions.

3. Write a Haskell Program:

You can start by doing the most obvious things that people do while learning a new programming language – programming "Hello, world!"

Prelude> "Hello, World!"

"Hello, World!"

The Haskell system assessed the string and printed the result. Or you can try a variation to print directly to standard output:

Prelude> putStrLn "Hello World"

Hello World

Use a Haskell compiler such as GHC to compile the code to a standalone executable. Create the source file hello.hs containing this –

main = putStrLn "Hello, World!"

Then compile it with

$ ghc -o hello hello.hs

Finally, you can run the executable (i.e../hello on Unix systems and hello.exe on Windows).

4. Haskell the Calculator:

For some advanced learning in Haskell, you should try the factorial function. You need to define it on the interpreter in the following manner:

Prelude> let fac n = if n == 0 then 1 else n * fac (n-1)

This describes a new function called fac which allows you to compute the factorial of an integer.

You can now run fac on some argument:

Prelude> fac 42

1405006117752879898543142606244511569936384000000000

Congratulations. You have successfully made a Haskell program.

In case you are using Hugs, you will have to load the definition of fac from a file, fac.hs, which should contain:

fac n = if n == 0 then 1 else n * fac (n-1)

Now, run it with Hugs as follows (this will also work in GHCi):

Hugs.Base> :load fac.hs

Main> fac 42

1405006117752879898543142606244511569936384000000000

You can then compile this program in order to produce a standalone executable. In the file fac.hs, you can write the following code:

fac 0 = 1

fac n = n * fac (n-1)

main = print (fac 42)

You then need to compile and run the code:

$ ghc -o fac fac.hs

$./fac

1405006117752879898543142606244511569936384000000000

Great! So now you know the basics of how to prepare a Haskell assignment. Keep practising these tips and develop your skills further.

Summary: Haskell programming is a bit different than the regular programming languages taught in a programming course. However, you can get started with Haskell with a few simple steps. This article shows how a beginner can work with Haskell in just 4 steps.