My coauthor for http://haskellbook.com/ had never programmed before, so I have some experience teaching people Haskell that have used imperative languages and some experience teaching people that have no prior programming experience.
1. It's not a panacea
2. It's still more work overall to teach Haskell (or any language) to somebody that has never programmed before
3. It's more fun teaching them because they don't argue with you or waste time trying to apply nouns/verbs they already know to Haskell.
1. It's not a panacea
2. It's still more work overall to teach Haskell (or any language) to somebody that has never programmed before
3. It's more fun teaching them because they don't argue with you or waste time trying to apply nouns/verbs they already know to Haskell.