Haskell is a purely functional programming language known for its strong type system, lazy evaluation, and expressive power. For students, learning Haskell not only improves programming skills but also strengthens problem-solving abilities by encouraging clear mathematical thinking. This step-by-step timeline is designed to take you from beginner to advanced levels, giving you structured milestones and projects along the way.
Week 1–2: Getting Started
Install GHC and GHCi.
Learn Haskell syntax basics: expressions, variables, and simple functions.
Understand functional programming principles (immutability, pure functions).
Practice with simple programs (factorial, Fibonacci, list operations).
Week 3–4: Core Concepts
Learn about types and type inference.
Work with lists, tuples, and pattern matching.
Explore recursion and higher-order functions.
Practice using map, filter, and fold.
Week 5–6: Data and Type Classes
Study algebraic data types (ADTs) and type synonyms.
Learn polymorphism and type classes.
Work with Maybe, Either for handling errors.
Build small projects (e.g., a calculator, text-based game).
Week 7–8: Monads and Functional Abstractions
Learn Functors, Applicatives, and Monads.
Work with IO, Maybe, and List monads.
Use do-notation effectively.
Practice small apps (file handling, random number generator).
Week 9–10: Modules and I/O
Organize code with modules.
Learn input/output operations.
Explore Hackage and manage dependencies with cabal or stack.
Build a medium project (note-taking app, contact manager).
Week 11–12: Practical Applications
Understand lazy evaluation.
Explore concurrency and parallelism basics.
Use libraries like text, bytestring, and aeson.
Build a project using JSON parsing or API calls.
Week 13–14: Advanced Haskell
Study GADTs, type families, and monad transformers.
Learn lenses and functional reactive programming (FRP).
Explore libraries like lens, conduit, servant.
Week 15–16: Capstone Project
Build a complete project, such as:
A web app with Yesod or Scotty.
A compiler/interpreter for a small language.
A functional data processing tool.
By following this 16-week roadmap, students can progress from the fundamentals of functional programming to building advanced applications in Haskell. This path emphasizes steady practice, real-world projects, and deeper exploration of advanced concepts. At the end, learners will not only be proficient in Haskell but will also have developed a solid understanding of functional programming principles, making them better programmers in any language they choose to learn next.
