I feel like this isn't discussed enough. I can't comment on the technical merits of Haskell but growing an organization and replacing engineers is so much more difficult when you're using tools that aren't mainstream.
The market works somewhat differently for small companies there. Yes, there are fewer people with relatively niche skills, on the other hand you have an easier time to attract the few you need. Not every company wants to become large.
Optimizing for worker fungibility, in a vacuum, seems like a -EV "playing not to lose" strategy. It's understandable that this line of thinking is common though.
I also believe that to be the case as an employee. Ie, being a generalist is probably -EV for your career but it feels safer so it's kind of a contrarian position to say "be a specialist".
> Optimizing for worker fungibility, in a vacuum, seems like a -EV "playing not to lose" strategy.
That's why you don't optimise for it in a vacuum. You weigh the potential benefits of switching to Haskell versus the additional cost of maintaining/growing a Haskell team.
detaro|5 years ago
st1x7|5 years ago
How is it easier to find a Haskell developer vs finding a Java/Python/PHP developer?
vp8989|5 years ago
I also believe that to be the case as an employee. Ie, being a generalist is probably -EV for your career but it feels safer so it's kind of a contrarian position to say "be a specialist".
st1x7|5 years ago
That's why you don't optimise for it in a vacuum. You weigh the potential benefits of switching to Haskell versus the additional cost of maintaining/growing a Haskell team.