Haskell software tools and services developer FP Complete has launched the first commercial Haskell IDE and deployment platform. Named FP Haskell Center, this resource delivers Haskell to developers, researchers, and students as a convenient web service.
Open source Haskell is a purely functional programming language for rapid development with strong integration with other languages, built-in concurrency and parallelism, debuggers, profilers, rich libraries, and an active community. It is estimated to cut the amount of code needed by 50-80% in total.
FP Complete blames bug fixing, rewriting, and maintenance cycles for delays on many software development projects today. The firm says that the "root cause" of these problems is the inefficient and error-prone nature of imperative programming languages (Java, C family, Python, Ruby, etc.) where they are dominant today.
The firm points out Haskell's strong type-checking capability catches "all errors" at compile time; i.e., as opposed to runtime in traditional languages. FP Complete also flags Haskell code's reusable nature and says that it is maintainable and eliminates any spaghetti code.
Currently, Haskell is deployed via a set of open-source and homegrown toolsets that have to be cobbled together by the user through a complex and time-consuming process. As the first integrated commercial Haskell development and deployment platform, FP Haskell Center delivers convenience… in that, instead of a local install, users just log in and code.
All libraries, tools, and code templates are vetted, tested, and supported — and each license includes free community support. Key features include: in-line type checking and error corrections, module-based coding and project management, git/Github integration, and a single develop/build/deploy platform.
"Haskell is a proven, 25-year old technology that's just getting deployed commercially by a growing and diverse group of companies across industries," said Aaron Contorer, FP Complete founder and CEO. "By making it considerably easier for programmers to discover and enjoy its tremendous benefits, FP Haskell Center is our first step in leading the way to spur much greater adoption of Haskell in the mainstream market."
