[boothead]

> * recalling C++ & Java, not crazy about the idea of going back to having to specify types for everything.

This is a big misconception. The type system in Haskell becomes much more of a tool than a hindrance. Although you will tend to write type signatures for all your top level functions, type inference is very good and it's not necessary most of the time.

The reason you should consider writing at least the top level signatures is that when you do the compiler will help you fill in the banks with type holes. See

* https://www.reddit.com/r/haskell/comments/19aj9t/holedriven_...

* https://wiki.haskell.org/GHC/Typed_holes

Once you learn these tricks, it can really feel like magic sometimes. :-)