Haskell's Surprising Simplicity: A Developer's Journey from Struggle to Flow

After failed attempts in Clojure, Elixir, OCaml, Go, and Prolog, one developer discovers unexpected productivity in Haskell while building a complex DSL for musical diagrams. The experience challenges perceptions about the language's notorious learning curve.

For years, developers have regarded Haskell as an esoteric language reserved for academics—a perception reinforced by memes about monads and category theory. Yet one programmer's experience building a specialized diagramming DSL reveals a different reality. After wrestling with five other languages, they found Haskell unexpectedly intuitive and productive.

The Quest for the Right Tool

The project—microdiagrams—demanded a domain-specific language (DSL) to visualize piano key relationships. Early prototypes in Clojure, Elixir, OCaml, Go, and Prolog all failed:

Elixir collapsed under message-passing complexity
Clojure required "back-bending" workarounds
Prolog's backtracking promise proved a "Fata Morgana"
OCaml's constraint system turned verbose
Go lacked expressiveness

Sample piano diagram from the microdiagrams project (Source: xlii.space)

The Haskell Breakthrough

As a last resort, the developer tried Haskell—and completed more progress in three days than in previous months. Contrary to expectations:

Type errors guided rather than obstructed
Monads and applicatives flowed naturally post-OCaml experience
The compiler became a collaborative partner ("I got ya bro!")

"My mind is blown," they reported. "I move forward all the time."

Why the Fit Matters

This experience underscores critical truths about developer productivity:

Personal resonance trumps popularity: Haskell's mathematical reputation scared many, but its purity aligned perfectly with the problem domain
Prior exposure matters: Previous struggles with monads in OCaml created foundational understanding
Joy accelerates progress: The absence of "sharp edges" enabled flow state

"Technology we use either pushes us forward or drags us back. I don’t like to struggle with the language."
— Source: xlii.space

While Haskell won't suit every project, this case reveals how perceived "difficult" tools can become accelerators when they align with a developer's mental models and project requirements. The microdiagrams experiment proves that sometimes, the most intimidating path offers the smoothest ride.

Source: Original post by xlii.space