Scheme itself has umpteen different "implementations", which share most of
their fundamentals, but have slightly different extensions and interact with
-the operating system differently. One major implementation is called Racket,
+the operating system differently. One major implementation is called [Racket](http://racket-lang.org),
and that is what we recommend you use. (A few years back they were called PLT Scheme, but then
they changed their name to Racket.)
If you're already using or comfortable with
There is a (slow, bare-bones) version of Haskell available for online use at <http://tryhaskell.org/>.
-Like Scheme, Haskell has a couple of different implementations. The dominant one, and the one we recommend you install, is called GHC, short for "Glasgow Haskell Compiler". To install this on your machine, there are a couple of different strategies. It's helpful to understand some lingo as you begin this process:
+Like Scheme, Haskell has a couple of different implementations. The dominant one, and the one we recommend you install, is called [GHC](https://wiki.haskell.org/GHC), short for "Glasgow Haskell Compiler". To install this on your machine, there are a couple of different strategies. It's helpful to understand some lingo as you begin this process:
-* As mentioned, **[GHC](https://wiki.haskell.org/GHC)** is the main Haskell engine or compiler you'll be installing. The current version is 7.8.4, from December 2014.
+* As mentioned, **GHC** is the main Haskell engine or compiler you'll be installing. The current version is 7.8.4, from December 2014.
* **gcc** and **llvm/clang** and **Xcode** and **MinGW** are names for other compilers on different systems. Oftentimes these will be used during the installation process to get GHC up and running. Some of the strategies described below will help you install these if they're not already on your machine.
* **alex** and **happy** and **haddock** are names of various Haskell helper programs that GHC uses to get up and running.
-* **cabal** is a "package manager" for Haskell. It allows you to install libraries or extensions that other people have built. (Usually those are published at the [Hackage](http://hackage.haskell.org) web site. Some of these are experimental and may not always work; others are quite fundamental and are almost de facto parts of what people expect in a Haskell system.
+* **[Cabal](https://www.haskell.org/cabal)** is a "package manager" for Haskell. It allows you to install libraries or extensions that other people have built. (Usually those are published at the [Hackage](https://hackage.haskell.org) web site.) Some of these are experimental and may not always work; others are quite fundamental and are almost de facto parts of what people expect in a Haskell system.
* **[Haskell Platform](https://www.haskell.org/platform)** is a standard bundle that includes a fixed version of GHC, plus fixed versions of some of the most popular libraries or extensions. This is updated once or twice a year. The current version is 2014.2.0.0, from August 2014. It includes GHC version 7.8.3.
-The easiest way to get up and running with Haskell/GHC is to install the Haskell Platform. Here's how to do that on Ubuntu or Debian Linux:
+The easiest way to get up and running with Haskell/GHC is to install the Haskell Platform. Here's how to do that **on Windows**:
-* In a Terminal, type `sudo apk-get install haskell-platform`.
+* Go to <https://www.haskell.org/platform/windows.html> and follow the instructions. It looks like this process will automatically install the MinGW compiler needed to get this build of Haskell running on Windows.
-On a Mac without MacPorts:
+On **Mac without MacPorts**:
-* \<Instructions>
-* <https://github.com/pittsburgh-haskell/haskell-installation>
+* Go to <https://www.haskell.org/platform/mac.html> and follow the instructions. This requires Mac OS X 10.6 / Snow Leopard or later; but there is a link to an earlier version of Haskell Platform, that's built for Mac OS X 10.5 / Leopard. These instructions also require that you have (parts of) Apple's Xcode tools installed. (These are mentioned above.) There are some very brief comments about different options for how to get that on the Haskell Platform page.
-On a Mac with MacPorts:
+On **Mac with MacPorts**:
-* \<Instructions>
+* In a Terminal, type `sudo port install haskell-platform`.
-On Windows:
+On **Ubuntu or Debian Linux**:
-* \<Instructions>
+* In a Terminal, type `sudo apt-get install haskell-platform`.
+---
-* Getting started: <https://wiki.haskell.org/Haskell_in_5_steps>
-* <new-www.haskell.org/downloads>
+* [Here is more info](https://github.com/pittsburgh-haskell/haskell-installation) about installing Haskell.
+
+
+* It's useful to know about the general [Haskell wiki](https://wiki.haskell.org) (not restricted to just GHC). They have a [Getting Started](https://wiki.haskell.org/Haskell_in_5_steps) page, which also recommends that you install the Haskell Platform.
+
+* <http://new-www.haskell.org/downloads>