Helium is a compiler

Compiler

A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...

 and a dialect of the functional programming language

Functional programming

In computer science, functional programming is a programming paradigm that treats computation as the evaluation of mathematical functions and avoids state and mutable data. It emphasizes the application of functions, in contrast to the imperative programming style, which emphasizes changes in state...

 Haskell

Haskell (programming language)

Haskell is a standardized, general-purpose purely functional programming language, with non-strict semantics and strong static typing. It is named after logician Haskell Curry. In Haskell, "a function is a first-class citizen" of the programming language. As a functional programming language, the...

. It has been designed to make learning Haskell easier by giving clearer error messages. It is being developed at Utrecht University

Utrecht University

Utrecht University is a university in Utrecht, Netherlands. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe. Established March 26, 1636, it had an enrollment of 29,082 students in 2008, and employed 8,614 faculty and staff, 570 of which are full professors....

, Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, primarily by Arjan van IJzendoorn, Daan Leijen, Bastiaan Heeren and Rijk-Jan van Haaften.

Certain language features of Haskell have not been included to create more specific error messages. For this reason, it (currently) lacks type class

Type class

In computer science, a type class is a type system construct that supports ad-hoc polymorphism. This is achieved by adding constraints to type variables in parametrically polymorphic types...

es, rendering it incompatible with many Haskell programs.

It also includes Hint, an interpreter written in Java

Java (programming language)

Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...

 with a graphical user interface

Graphical user interface

In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...

.

External links

• Helium website
• Simon Thompson, Haskell: The Craft of Functional Programming, Second Edition, A textbook recommended on the Helium site for studying Haskell with Helium.