Introduction
The documentation that you're reading is a design document where most of the features you're reading are yet to be implemented. Check the Note on the Docs
What is NeoHaskell?
NeoHaskell is a language for building and maintaining applications with the minimal amount of headaches possible. It builds on top of industrial-grade tools like GHC to allow developers of any level to be productive in a wide range of fields. It compiles to native code, and runs natively on your machine, allowing it to interoperate natively with languages like C, as well as it's way of working makes integration with other codebases very easy.
Here's what it looks like:
"NeoHaskell is cool"
|> String.replace "cool" "awesome"
|> String.toWordsList
-- > ["NeoHaskell", "is", "awesome"]
As you can see in the example above, NeoHaskell favors semantic and readable code that is easy to understand, while providing tools that guide the developer towards a more maintainable solution.
By reading the code, it is easy to infer what it is doing. There's no need for code comments, because the code is self-explanatory.
You might have some questions already, don't worry about it. We will cover every little detail in the rest of the docs. Just read along so you can have a high-level understanding of what NeoHaskell offers.
The NeoHaskell documentation is tailored for beginners, but it does make some assumptions like familiarity with a text editor like Visual Studio Code, at least some level of fluency with the terminal (like changing directories and executing commands), and at least that some other experience with coding in general.
Many examples will be accompanied with a counter example in TypeScript, it is not a requirement to know TypeScript, but it helps as it is a good middle-ground to make an anchor for helping you learn through similarity.
A Batteries-Included Language
NeoHaskell is a language, a framework, and ecosystem that tries to aid in software development for a wide range of fields. While some might argue that it is not the best tool for each of those specific tasks, it for sure is the one that makes the development process more enjoyable.
It could be possible that you are an experienced developer, and you have an already working application. NeoHaskell allows you easily integrate it into many applications, you can read more about it in the Integrating NeoHaskell page.
We all left a coding project for a period of time and then found ourselves completely lost when coming back into it. NeoHaskell mitigates that by adopting a strong opinion on how stuff should be done, and in exchange, you get back a predictable application that is easy to extend and maintain.
NeoHaskell aims to help you in fields as:
Those look like completely disconnected fields that don't have much in common. In reality, the NeoHaskell way of working works well with all of them, and makes everything a bliss.
NeoHaskell comes with a extensive core library that helps you with a wide range of tasks like:
- File System Management
- Command Line Interfaces
- Create HTTP APIs
- Consume HTTP APIs
- Serialization for JSON and friends
- HTML Rendering
And much more! The NeoHaskell compiler allows you to produce optimized builds that only have the required code that your app needs.
A User-Centered Language
Everything in NeoHaskell is designed and implemented with the user in mind.
Therefore, everything is packed into the neo command line tool.
What is everything? Well, everything that you need for developing your application:
- Installing NeoHaskell
- Generating a new project
- Generating commonly-shaped files
- Generating documentation
- Managing dependencies
- Compiling your code
- Linting
- Formatting
- Running your tests
- Packing your application for deployment
And every use case that helps you to be more happy along the way.
Begin your Journey
This has been a high-level introduction into the language, now we will roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty. Happy hacking!