I guess this is true if you sit in front of the computer with no clue on how to tackle the problem at hand and have no intention of producing an actual robust program as the immediate output. If you are simply messing around with no direction, then I would agree.
Let's give some examples of hard problems first: designing a version control system, writing a complex revenue simulation model, designing an algebra for arbitrary data model customization, etc.
When dealing with such "hard" problems, I personally usually do a fair amount of thinking before typing a line of code. Once I have a hypothesis as to how the solution might look with at least a starting point for the implementation, I start fleshing it out in Haskell. This prototyping actually goes quite fast with data types and transformations leading the way and making what needs to be done fairly clear. In a short amount of time, you end up with a pretty robust (thanks to various reasons mentioned by the author and several others in this thread) initial prototype. I have a feeling this experience is fairly common in the Haskell community.
If your idea was completely rubbish, then yes, you may have to scrap it all together. Otherwise, the type system becomes your guide in making incremental adjustments to your data types and transformations. I would argue that any major change would require the same, if not more, amount of time/work in Python/Ruby/Perl if you take the correctness of your code seriously.
Also, keep in mind that Haskell has really advanced type inference, which means you don't have to write any types at all if you don't want to. You are required to write them only if you are using higher order types, but then you really ought to know what you are doing.
Let's give some examples of hard problems first: designing a version control system, writing a complex revenue simulation model, designing an algebra for arbitrary data model customization, etc.
If this is true then why is a VCS written in C (git) not left in the dust by Darcs?
I'm pretty sure there are several VCSs written in C that are left in the dust by Darcs, and keep in mind that git adoption got a head start from being promoted by some guy named Linus Torvalds. (Perhaps you've heard of him?)
Let's give some examples of hard problems first: designing a version control system, writing a complex revenue simulation model, designing an algebra for arbitrary data model customization, etc.
When dealing with such "hard" problems, I personally usually do a fair amount of thinking before typing a line of code. Once I have a hypothesis as to how the solution might look with at least a starting point for the implementation, I start fleshing it out in Haskell. This prototyping actually goes quite fast with data types and transformations leading the way and making what needs to be done fairly clear. In a short amount of time, you end up with a pretty robust (thanks to various reasons mentioned by the author and several others in this thread) initial prototype. I have a feeling this experience is fairly common in the Haskell community.
If your idea was completely rubbish, then yes, you may have to scrap it all together. Otherwise, the type system becomes your guide in making incremental adjustments to your data types and transformations. I would argue that any major change would require the same, if not more, amount of time/work in Python/Ruby/Perl if you take the correctness of your code seriously.
Also, keep in mind that Haskell has really advanced type inference, which means you don't have to write any types at all if you don't want to. You are required to write them only if you are using higher order types, but then you really ought to know what you are doing.