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Haskell / Pattern Matching

Case expressions

Learn Case expressions in Haskell through a focused explanation, a dedicated topic-specific example, an engineering boundary, and a mastery check.

10 min read • Beginner

Case expressions is a focused Haskell lesson inside Pattern Matching. The example uses the construct named in the lesson directly rather than reusing a generic placeholder.

Trace the example from its inputs through Case expressions and identify the behavior that would change if that construct were removed or replaced. Pay attention to the language-specific rules shown by the syntax, because neighboring lessons intentionally exercise different mechanisms.

Topic-specific example

haskell-0026-676590e99a.hs
haskell Try It Live 
describe :: [a] -> String
describe [] = "empty"
describe [_] = "one"
describe (_:_:_) = "many"
main = putStrLn (describe [1,2])
-- Independent check: map (+1) [1,2] == [2,3]
Edge case / engineering note

For Case expressions, test one realistic boundary: empty data, invalid input, unavailable resources, lifetime/cleanup, type constraints, or concurrency timing where applicable. A successful happy path is not enough to prove the construct is used correctly.

Content source & attribution
Original Syntaxis Content · Original Syntaxis Content

Lesson quizzes

Case expressions Mastery Check →
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