[Haskell-cafe] strict, lazy, non-strict, eager

Yves Parès limestrael at gmail.com
Sat Dec 24 16:54:53 CET 2011


I'm gonna clarify my point a little ^^.

In fact pedantry was involved. The way Albert started his original post was
pedantic.
The scaring effect was mostly caused by such discourse showing two things:
- Haskellers make use of obscure terms and distinctions (e.g. "denotational
semantics")
- ...whose meaning does not make a consensus amongst Haskellers *themselves*
!
Seeing that from an outsider point of view kind of makes you think: "OMG,
what are those hairy guys inventing weird concepts they're not even capable
to agree upon!" ^^

And to prove my second post -- as I expected -- has come someone (MigMit)
to question Albert's statements.

Plus no one is really stating clearly at which level the terms "eager",
"strict" and "lazy" should be involved (for instance in Haskell's
specification or in GHC's implementation).

2011/12/24 Gregory Crosswhite <gcrosswhite at gmail.com>

> On Dec 24, 2011, at 6:47 PM, Murray Campbell wrote:
>
> It's too late to avoid success at all costs but please don't banish our
> precious pedantry!
>
> Scare on!
>
>
> Please don't misunderstand, I have absolutely no problems at all with
> people arguing voraciously and pedantically over ideas, as long as they are
> doing so respectfully, impersonally, politely and open-mindedly.  In fact,
> like you I welcome such discourse, and the fact that this list provides
> such a nice environment for it is part of the reason why I like it so much.
>  :-)  (See, for example, the argument that I started a few days ago over
> whether some/many belong in Alternative a few days ago.)
>
> Having said that, there is no small difference between
>
> "Hey everyone!  I have been thinking about something for a while, and I
> have an idea with which many of you will most likely strongly disagree.
>  Here it is, and I welcome your feedback on it!"
>
> and
>
> "You all have long been maintaining a cognitive dissonance that in some
> cases turns into plain hypocrisy, and the only reason I hadn't complained
> about it until now was because I have been waiting for unmistakable
> evidence, a smoking gun, a red hand so caught that you cannot explain away.
>  Here it is.  Now people, could you please make up your mind already?  It
> has been more than 13 years."
>
> The former invites open discussion in a friendly and positive environment,
> whereas the latter at best turns people off from wanting to respond
> positively, and at worst provokes angry responses that further poison the
> well.
>
> Cheers,
> Greg
>
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