Haskell:
Removing quotes from a string

How to:

In Haskell, we can whip up a function that removes all quotes from a given string. It’s like telling the quotes to scram, and making sure they take the hint.

import Data.List (intercalate)
import Data.Char (isPunctuation)

removeQuotes :: String -> String
removeQuotes = filter (\c -> c /= '"' && c /= '\'')

main :: IO ()
main = do
    let stringWithQuotes = "Haskell said, \"Let's learn some functions!\""
    putStrLn $ removeQuotes stringWithQuotes

Sample Output:

Haskell said, Lets learn some functions!

Deep Dive

Once upon a time, before strings in programming were as common as cat videos on the internet, handling text was a finicky business. But as programming languages evolved, strings became a crucial part of coding. Yet, quotes remained a dual-edged sword—essential for defining strings, but a nuisance when included as actual data.

Alternatives? Instead of swatting away all the quotes like flies, you can be selective. You might want to remove only the outermost quotes (a classic trim) or handle escaped quotes within a string.

Implementation-wise, the removeQuotes function above uses a lambda to check each character (c) to see if it’s a pestering quote and filters them out accordingly. This is a straightforward approach, but for bigger texts or more complex rules, you might want to look at parser libraries like Parsec which can give you more finesse and power in text processing.

See Also:

• For regex lovers: Text.Regex.Posix
• A gentle intro to Haskell strings: Learn You a Haskell for Great Good! - Starting Out