Working in the computer science labs

Working in the ANU computer science labs is the default option and you will receive a gently introduction to those labs in week one of your course. Please also load and read a copy of the User guide for the student computing environment.

Setup hints for your own computer

Using Haskell on your own computer is recommended. Here you will find basic setup hints.

Compiler, Interpreter, Libraries and Package manager

The fastest and smoothest version to install a Haskell environment on your computer (which is also compatible with the installations at the ANU) is to download the latest version of the "Haskell Platform".

Editor

Which leaves you with the choice of an appropriate editor. There is no stable, universally accepted, platform independent IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for Haskell, so most people try to convince their most beloved, universal programming editor to speak Haskell. The most popular choices are:

• Sublime Text (slick multi-platform editor with currently active Haskell mode development, scriptable via Python)
• Emacs (has its own, unique interface, yet it is also available in localized flavours on different platforms, e.g. Aquamacs for OS X)
• Leksah (a multi-platform IDE in development)
• Eclipse (Java based IDE) with this Haskell plug-in
• TextMate with this Haskell plug-in (OS X only)
• SubEthaEdit with this Haskell plug-in (OS X only)
• ConTEXT (Windows only)
• NotePad++ (Windows only)
• gedit (works best in Linux)
• vim (does amazing things in amazingly unexpected ways and moments on all platforms - in other words: for the brave only)

Suggestions for very simple editors, which will give you e.g. syntax highlighting straight away would be :

• gedit for Linux
• Aquamacs (or alternatively TextMate for a cleaner interface) for OS X
• NotePad++ for Windows

(Those editors will be directly supported by most of our tutors.)

None of the above will be fulfilling all your wishes (besides you are a very modest person), so pick the version which seems closest to your taste in editors and give it a shot. Let us know if you find an editor / IDE which works great for you and should be on this list.

Graphics

The graphics library which is used in the course is Gloss, formerly known as ANUPlot, written and maintained by Ben Lippmeier (originally written for this course in 2006, but has been cleaned up and nicely packaged since then). Follow the simple cabal installation instructions from the Gloss project site.