I realise the Lisp&#x2F;Haskell question has been asked before, so let me clarify. I&#x27;m about to enter my second year of uni (studying ECE) and I&#x27;m trying to decide what to focus my time on. I&#x27;m very interested in learning about writing compilers, but I also want to grow my skill in programming. Currently, the only languages I know are C-derivatives, and although I&#x27;m falling in love with Go, I know that it probably won&#x27;t give me fundamentally new ways to think about software.<p>So, to the issue at hand. I&#x27;ve been struggling to start The Dragon Book, as I find it incredibly dense and difficult to understand (though, to confess, I haven&#x27;t given it the dedication it deserves). Also, after reading some of PG&#x27;s essays and threads on StackOverflow&#x2F;Reddit&#x2F;Hacker News, I&#x27;ve been convinced that Lisp is an important language to learn, esp. because of functional programming (which I don&#x27;t know much about). Then I recently ran into Haskell, which seems to offer some of the same.<p>My question is this, because I&#x27;m in school, I have plenty of free time, but it&#x27;s still a limited resource. Between the 3 things I&#x27;ve listed (Lisp, Haskell, Compilers), which do you consider to be most enriching? (To the experienced) if you were back in your hacker-youth, knowing only a few languages and how to use a shell, what would you do? Am I making a mistake by starting with the Dragon, and if so, what do you recommend? Should I learn Lisp then Haskell or vice-versa? And what should I prioritize, compilers or more languages?
Ask HN: What should I give priority, Lisp, Haskell, or the Dragon Book?