title: How much more difficult is it to write cross-platform software in Haskell than in Java?
body: <p>I am fairly new to Haskell and to programming in general, and I'd like to use Haskell for a project that I have in mind.  My major concern is how difficult it will be to write a cross-platform program with Haskell. Ideally, I'd like my final product to work and be easy to install on most Windows, Mac, and Linux machines.</p>
  
  <p>I haven't written any Java, but as I understand it, one of the major strengths of Java is that you can "write once, run anywhere." Since I haven't heard that claim made about Haskell, I assume that a bit more work goes into writing a cross platform Haskell program than in writing a cross platform Java program.  </p>
  
  <p>My question is, how much more work are we talking about?  If I want my program to work on most Windows, Mac, and Linux machines, how much more of a headache will I be causing myself if I opt to use Haskell instead of a JIT compiled language like Java?</p>
  
  <p><strong>And as a follow-up question:</strong></p>
  
  <p>To what extent can the answer to my first question be applied to all non-JIT compiled languages generally? Are the challenges of creating cross platform software in Haskell more or less equivalent to the challenge of doing so with any other compiled language?  How unique is Haskell in this regard?</p>
  
  <p>Thanks!</p>