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Type Synonyms – Haskell
In Haskell, type synonyms are a way to create new names for existing types, making code easier to read and understand without introducing new types or changing the underlying data structure. Type synonyms are especially useful for simplifying complex type definitions, improving code readability, and providing meaningful context for types in your code. This article…
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Tree Structures – Haskell
In Haskell, tree structures are a powerful way to organize hierarchical data, enabling efficient storage, retrieval, and manipulation of elements. Among tree structures, binary trees and especially binary search trees (BSTs) are widely used for their efficiency in operations like searching, inserting, and deleting data. This article will explain the basics of tree structures in…
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Functors – Haskell
In Haskell, functors are a key concept in the functional programming paradigm that enable you to apply a function to values inside a container-like structure without altering the structure itself. Functors provide a way to map over data structures in a consistent and generalized way. Understanding functors is crucial because they allow you to write…
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Input & Output (IO) – Haskell
In Haskell, input and output (IO) work a bit differently than in imperative languages. Since Haskell is a purely functional language, functions are expected to be pure, meaning they should produce the same output given the same input and have no side effects. However, input and output inherently involve side effects, which poses a unique…
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Types vs. Typeclasses – Haskell
In Haskell, types and typeclasses are distinct but related concepts that play key roles in the language’s type system. Here’s a breakdown of their differences: Types A type in Haskell describes the kind of data a value holds. Types are used to enforce that functions receive and return values of expected kinds, ensuring type safety.…
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Type Constructor – Haskell
In Haskell, a type constructor is a function that takes one or more types as arguments and produces a new type. Type constructors are similar to data constructors, but while data constructors create values, type constructors create types. They’re particularly useful for defining parametric types, which are types that take type parameters (such as lists,…
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Record Syntax – Haskell
In Haskell, records provide a way to create data types with named fields, making it easier to work with complex data structures. Record syntax is particularly useful when you have a data structure with multiple fields, as it allows you to access, modify, and create values in a more readable and convenient way. In this…
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Why Functional Programming Languages Emphasize Immutability
Functional programming (FP) languages like Haskell, Erlang, and certain aspects of languages like Scala and Swift emphasize immutability—a concept where data cannot be modified after it is created. Instead of altering data, new data structures are created to represent updated information. This article explores why immutability is central to functional programming, its advantages, and its…
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What’s the difference between a set, a map and a list in Haskell?
In Haskell, sets, maps, and lists are three different types of data structures, each with its own characteristics and use cases. Here’s a breakdown of their differences and when to use each: 1. List (Data.List) You’re dealing with potentially infinite data streams or recursive structures. Definition: A list is a linear sequence of elements in…
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Data.Set Module – Haskell
In Haskell, managing unique elements in a collection is a common task. The Data.Set module provides a powerful way to store and manipulate sets—collections of unique, unordered elements. With Data.Set, you can perform operations like union, intersection, and difference efficiently, thanks to its implementation as a balanced binary tree. In this article, we’ll explore the…
