[Haskell-cafe] Python is lazier than Haskell

[serialhex]

so, as a n00b to haskell i can't say much about its laziness, and not
knowing much about how python works i'm about the same there.  though i do
know ruby, and afaik ruby doesn't _care_ what type something is, just if it
can do something.  example from the rails framework:

#-------
class NilClass  # nil is mostly equivalent to c's NULL
  def blank?
    true
  end
end

class String
  def blank?
    self.size == 0
  end
end

["", "person", nil].each do |element|
  puts element unless element.blank?
end
#-------

the output of course would simply be "person", but that's not the object of
my post.  in ruby they use what some call "duck typing"  if it looks like a
duck and quacks like a duck... it's a duck.  unlike in most other
programming languages where you have to draw blood in order to check if it's
a duck (i mean, it could be a goose for all we know, and we all know what
geese do to our programs...)  and while this programming style might be
useful in this (and many other) contexts, there are probably a bunch of
others where it only gets in the way.

also, in case you are wondering... haskell is going to be the second
language i delve into.  i've already started ruby and will have to un-learn
a bunch of things because of that from what i read, but i find a number of
haskells features to be interesting.  and hey, it's a new way to think about
problems right?
hex
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