title: Is Haskell suitable as a first language?
body: <p>I have had previous exposure to imperative languages (C, some Java) however I would say I had no <strong>experience</strong> in programming. Therefore: treating me as a non-programmer, would Haskell be suitable as a first language? </p>
  
  <p>My interests in Pure Mathematics and CS seem to align to the intention of most Haskell tutorials, and although i can inherently recognise the current and future industry value of imperative programming, I find the potential of functional programming (in as much as it seems such a paradigm shift) fascinating.</p>
  
  <p>I guess my question can be distilled as follows - would a non-programmer have to understand imperative programming to appreciate and fully utilise functional programming?</p>
  
  <p>Some references: </p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/628270/are-there-any-studies-on-whether-functional-declarative-or-imperative-programming">Are there any studies on whether functional/declarative or imperative programming is easier to learn as a first language?</a></p></li>
  <li><p><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/273108/which-programming-languages-have-helped-you-to-understand-programming-better">Which programming languages have helped you to understand programming better?</a></p></li>
  </ul>