here is the subject description link: http://www.unimelb.edu.au/HB/subjects/433-141.html please check it out! Haskell: apparently it''s not used in the real world, but would it be valuable in terms of concepts for game programming? I''ve already 2 "software development" subjects where I learnt some java and some delphi along with OO concepts but I need this subject in order to progress on to other subjects which might be of interest. Here is the link to the course structure: http://www.unimelb.edu.au/HB/areas/SCOMSCI.html any thoughts on the course?

Yes, it is valuable. Haskell and other functional languages can provide you with different ways of looking at programming. Not only by seeing what other types of structures and constructs another language provides, but also because it is a different type of language (functional vs imperative, the latter covers the "usual" languages like C/C++/Java).

Functional languages (Haskell, Caml and its variants, others) are used in the real world, although certainly several magnitudes less than the imperative languages like C/C++/Java. It''s even interesting to note that Chris Hecker, who gave a talk at GDC2001 on alternative language features, is actually working on a complete game using O''Caml (a Caml variant with objects).

I think you''ll find functional languages to be not merely interesting, but you''ll begin wanting some of their methods and constructs in your usual imperative world.


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Blue programmer needs food badly. Blue programmer is about to die!

thanks for responding


Today the lecturer said that he could teach us more popular languages like C++ or Java but he wants us to actually think more about the programming rather than just learning a language.

I''m still thinking about it though

quote: Original post by Dr Chi
Today the lecturer said that he could teach us more popular languages like C++ or Java but he wants us to actually think more about the programming rather than just learning a language.

I like your lecturer.

Many people today think that knowing a language such as C++ or Java means that you know how to program. Unfortunately, language choice is only one small part of the discipline of programming. There is architecture, reusability, mathematics and logic, algorithms, etc, etc.... These facets of programming are outside of language choice (although language choice can make various facets easier or more difficult to implement).

Having been through a very good computer science program ten years ago, including acting as teaching assistant for some of the programming classes, I find that functional languages are well worth learning, especially by those new to programming. It is easier to hurdle the obstacles of syntax and language constraints and get to the "real programming" issues. It''s unfortunate that functional languages aren''t as widespread as languages like C++ and Java.

Myself, I''ve not looked at Haskell (although I may do so soon). I''ve used O''Caml on and off, and SML (Standard-ML) back in college. All great stuff....


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Blue programmer needs food badly. Blue programmer is about to die!

Hah. Sounds very much like a course for which I have an exam in 2 hours. We using SML, not Haskell, but they''re similar.

This is a very typical course for comp sci students, definitely a good thing to take. It''s not going to teach you about game programming, it''s going to teach you about how to write correct programs which is much more important. Game programming largely amounts to learning APIs and developing efficient algorithms, and that course will help you with the latter.