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raylib VS Haskell

Compare raylib VS Haskell and see what are their differences

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raylib logo raylib

Cross-platform, open-source game development library in C.

Haskell logo Haskell

An advanced purely-functional programming language
  • raylib Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-07-08
  • Haskell Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-01

We recommend LibHunt Haskell for discovery and comparisons of trending Haskell projects.

raylib features and specs

  • Simple and Easy to Use
    Raylib offers a straightforward API, making it ideal for beginners and those looking to quickly prototype game ideas without dealing with complex set-up or configurations.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Raylib supports multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, macOS, and HTML5, allowing developers to build games that can run on different operating systems.
  • Lightweight
    This library is lightweight and requires minimal dependencies, which makes it fast to compile and easy to include in various projects.
  • Modular Design
    Raylib's modular design allows developers to use only the modules they need, which can help to optimize the application and reduce its size.
  • Growing Community
    With an active and growing community, raylib provides a support network of enthusiasts and developers, as well as a variety of tutorials and shared projects.

Possible disadvantages of raylib

  • Limited Advanced Features
    Raylib may lack some of the more advanced features found in other mature game development frameworks, which might be a drawback for experienced developers looking for advanced functionalities.
  • Smaller Ecosystem
    Compared to more popular engines, raylib has a smaller ecosystem, meaning fewer third-party tools, plugins, and extensions, which could limit development options.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Topics
    While it's beginner-friendly at a basic level, mastering more advanced development with raylib may require digging deeper into C programming and understanding low-level details.
  • Limited Official Documentation
    The official documentation, although available, might not be as comprehensive or detailed as what’s offered by larger frameworks, potentially leading to reliance on community support.
  • Lack of Built-in UI Tools
    Raylib does not include extensive graphical user interface tools, so developers might need to implement their own UI system or integrate third-party libraries for complex UI tasks.

Haskell features and specs

  • Pure Functional Programming
    Haskell emphasizes pure functional programming, meaning functions have no side effects. This leads to code that is easier to understand, test, and maintain.
  • Strong Type System
    Haskell's type system is strong and expressive, allowing developers to catch many errors at compile time. This results in more reliable code.
  • Lazy Evaluation
    Haskell uses lazy evaluation by default, which can lead to performance improvements by avoiding unnecessary computations and enabling the creation of infinite data structures.
  • Immutability
    In Haskell, data is immutable by default. This leads to simpler reasoning about code behavior and reduces bugs related to mutable state.
  • High-Level Abstractions
    Haskell provides powerful abstractions like monads, functors, and applicative functors, which can lead to more concise and expressive code.
  • Concurrency
    Haskell has excellent support for concurrency and parallelism through its lightweight threading model and software transactional memory, making it suitable for concurrent applications.
  • Community and Libraries
    Haskell has a dedicated community and a rich set of libraries and tools, which can help accelerate development and provide solutions to common problems.

Possible disadvantages of Haskell

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Haskell has a steep learning curve, particularly for developers who are new to functional programming or coming from imperative and object-oriented backgrounds.
  • Performance Concerns
    While Haskell can be efficient, its performance can sometimes lag behind other languages like C++ or Rust for certain use cases, especially those requiring low-level optimization.
  • Limited Industry Adoption
    Haskell is not as widely adopted in industry compared to languages like Java, Python, or JavaScript, which can limit job opportunities and community size.
  • Compilation Times
    Haskell's compilation times can be long, especially for large projects, which can slow down the development process.
  • Tooling and IDE Support
    While improving, the tooling and IDE support for Haskell is not as mature as for some other popular languages, potentially affecting developer productivity.
  • Complexity of Advanced Features
    Some of Haskell's advanced features, such as monads and type-level programming, can be complex and difficult to master, which can be a barrier for new developers.
  • Library Gaps
    Although Haskell has many libraries, there might be gaps or less mature libraries for some specific use cases compared to more mainstream languages.

Analysis of Haskell

Overall verdict

  • Haskell is good for certain types of projects and developers, especially those interested in functional programming and academic exploration. It may not be the best choice for every use case, particularly where performance-critical applications or system-level programming is required, due to its steep learning curve and relatively smaller community compared to more mainstream languages.

Why this product is good

  • Haskell is a purely functional programming language known for its high level of abstraction, robust type system, and lazy evaluation. These features make Haskell an excellent choice for academic research, complex algorithm design, and scenarios where concise and maintainable code is paramount. It encourages a different way of thinking about programming problems, which can lead to more elegant and robust solutions.

Recommended for

  • Developers interested in functional programming paradigms
  • Projects focused on academic research or algorithm development
  • Software requiring high-level abstractions and strong type safety
  • Enthusiasts wishing to learn a different approach to thinking about software design

raylib videos

Raylib 3.0 Released -- The Best Way to Learn C or C++ Game Development*

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Raylib tutorial | Episode 1 | Setting up Raylib and Creating a Window
  • Review - RayLib Receives An Epic MegaGrant!

Haskell videos

Functional Programming & Haskell - Computerphile

More videos:

  • Review - Marloe Haskell Review
  • Review - Marloe Watch Company - Haskell - Watch Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to raylib and Haskell)
Game Engine
100 100%
0% 0
Programming Language
0 0%
100% 100
Game Development
100 100%
0% 0
OOP
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare raylib and Haskell

raylib Reviews

  1. Diliup Gabadamudalige
    · Partner at EMorphusGames ·
    Raylib, a hidden Powerhouse

    I got to know Raylib just a few days ago taking a course on learning C++ to start using Unreal Engine. I have a background with assembler(a long time ago), Python/Pygame, C#/Monogame, and Unity/C#. Within the few days I used it, I am simply blown away by the simplicity but yet extremely powerful Raylib library. The routines and functions are very clear and access is very simple. Everything is well documented. I am yet to go in-depth with the library but I never had such an experience in the past building games, which is my main interest. If you stumbled upon this by chance stop and give it a go. You'll never regret it. Right now I am thinking of the many ways I can use this with the languages I know.

    🏁 Competitors: MonoGame, Pygame

Haskell Reviews

We have no reviews of Haskell yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Haskell should be more popular than raylib. It has been mentiond 21 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

raylib mentions (7)

  • New Year, New Game Engine - Nikola Engine Devlog 0
    You see, for the past several years I have used many programming languages and many more game frameworks and libraries. Programming languages like Java, C#, C++, and even, sadly, JavaScript (I know...). Game frameworks like LWJGL, SDL2, Raylib, MonoGame, SFML, and many more. Essentially, I have seen it all. Out of all of them, I think SDL2 was closer to what I was looking for, though, Raylib was the one I used the... - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Are there any game engines that support 3D that are more code orientated?
    It sounds like you're maybe asking for code frameworks/libraries instead of engines? Something like https://raylib.com/ might be better suited? Source: over 2 years ago
  • How can I make graphics games using cpp?
    I would recommend SFML or Raylib, they're both excellent and fairly easy to set up, plus have really good documentation. And if you decide to really dig into them you'll eventually be able to create any game you want. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Best C++ libraries for 2D game development
    I'd also recommend raylib as an option. Check out its website: http://raylib.com/. It is beginner friendly enough with good cheatsheet and examples. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Question about graphic/game libraries
    Finally, you can use raylib.com , a C library but it has a great interface and multiple examples. Howeve, it is not wide-spread like SDL. Source: almost 4 years ago
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Haskell mentions (21)

  • Is there a programming language that will blow my mind?
    Haskell - a general-purpose functional language with many unique properties (purely functional, lazy, expressive types, STM, etc). You mentioned you dabbled in Haskell, why not try it again? (I've written about 7 things I learned from Haskell, and my book is linked at them bottom if you're interested :) ). Source: about 2 years ago
  • Where to go from here?
    Where you go is entirely up to you. According to haskell.org, Haskell jobs are a-plenty. sigh. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Haskell.org now has "Get Started" page!
    Should they be part of haskell.org or something else? Source: over 2 years ago
  • Haskell.org now has "Get Started" page!
    Haskell.org now has a big purple Get Started button that takes you to a nice short guide (haskell.org/get-started) that quickly provides all the basic info to get going with Haskell. It is aimed for beginners, to reduce choice fatigue and to give them a clear, official path to get going. Source: over 2 years ago
  • dev environment for windows
    I just jumped into the wiki "Write Yourself a Scheme in 48 hours" which looks pretty good. (although some of the text explanation is hard to understand without context).. I used cabal to set up the starter project. Sublime editor seems to work OK and I just use the git Bash shell on windows to compile the program directly on the command line. So maybe this is all good enough for now (?). It seems installing... Source: over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing raylib and Haskell, you can also consider the following products

SFML - SFML provides a simple interface to the various components of your PC, to ease the development of games and multimedia applications. It is composed of five modules: system, window, graphics, audio and network.

Python - Python is a clear and powerful object-oriented programming language, comparable to Perl, Ruby, Scheme, or Java.

Godot Engine - Feature-packed 2D and 3D open source game engine.

Rust - A safe, concurrent, practical language

SDL - Simple DirectMedia Layer is a cross-platform multimedia library designed to provide low level...

JavaScript - Lightweight, interpreted, object-oriented language with first-class functions