<indexterm><primary>extensions</primary><secondary>options controlling</secondary>
</indexterm>
- <para>These flags control what variation of the language are
+ <para>The language option flag control what variation of the language are
permitted. Leaving out all of them gives you standard Haskell
98.</para>
- <para>NB. turning on an option that enables special syntax
+ <para>Generally speaking, all the language options are introduced by "<option>-X</option>" or "<option>-X=</option>";
+ e.g. <option>-X=TemplateHaskell</option>. Before anything else is done, the string following
+ "<option>-X</option>" is normalised by removing hyphens and converting
+ to lower case. So <option>-X=TemplateHaskell</option>, <option>-XTemplateHaskell</option>, and
+ <option>-Xtemplate-haskell</option> are all equivalent.
+ </para>
+
+ <para> All the language options can be turned off by using the prefix "<option>No</option>";
+ e.g. "<option>-X=NoTemplateHaskell</option>".</para>
+
+ <para> Language options recognised by Cabal can also be enabled using the <literal>LANGUAGE</literal> pragma,
+ thus <literal>{-# LANGUAGE TemplateHaskell #-}</literal> (see <xref linkend="language-pragma"/>>). </para>
+
+ <para> All the language options can be introduced with "<option>-f</option>" as well as "<option>-X</option>",
+ but this is a deprecated feature for backward compatibility. Use the "<option>-X</option>"
+ or LANGUAGE-pragma form.</para>
+
+ <para>Turning on an option that enables special syntax
<emphasis>might</emphasis> cause working Haskell 98 code to fail
to compile, perhaps because it uses a variable name which has
become a reserved word. So, together with each option below, we
<para>This simultaneously enables all of the extensions to
Haskell 98 described in <xref
linkend="ghc-language-features"/>, except where otherwise
- noted. </para>
+ noted. We are trying to move away from this portmanteau flag,
+ and towards enabling features individaully.</para>
<para>New reserved words: <literal>forall</literal> (only in
types), <literal>mdo</literal>.</para>
<replaceable>float</replaceable><literal>##</literal>,
<literal>(#</literal>, <literal>#)</literal>,
<literal>|)</literal>, <literal>{|</literal>.</para>
+
+ <para>Implies these specific language options:
+ <option>-X=ForeignFunctionInterface</option>,
+ <option>-X=ImplicitParams</option>,
+ <option>-X=ScopedTypeVariables</option>,
+ <option>-X=GADTs</option>,
+ <option>-X=TypeFamilies</option>. </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
- <option>-ffi</option> and <option>-fffi</option>:
- <indexterm><primary><option>-ffi</option></primary></indexterm>
- <indexterm><primary><option>-fffi</option></primary></indexterm>
+ <option>-X=ffi</option> and <option>-X=ForeignFunctionInterface</option>:
+ <indexterm><primary><option>-X=FFI</option></primary></indexterm>
</term>
<listitem>
<para>This option enables the language extension defined in the
<varlistentry>
<term>
- <option>-fno-monomorphism-restriction</option>,<option>-fno-mono-pat-binds</option>:
+ <option>-X=MonomorphismRestriction</option>,<option>-X=MonoPatBinds</option>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para> These two flags control how generalisation is done.
<varlistentry>
<term>
- <option>-fextended-default-rules</option>:
- <indexterm><primary><option>-fextended-default-rules</option></primary></indexterm>
+ <option>-X=ExtendedDefaultRules</option>:
+ <indexterm><primary><option>-X=ExtendedDefaultRules</option></primary></indexterm>
</term>
<listitem>
<para> Use GHCi's extended default rules in a regular module (<xref linkend="extended-default-rules"/>).
<varlistentry>
<term>
- <option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option>
- <indexterm><primary><option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option></primary></indexterm>
+ <option>-X=AllowOverlappingInstances</option>
+ <indexterm><primary><option>-X=AllowOverlappingInstances</option></primary></indexterm>
</term>
<term>
- <option>-fallow-undecidable-instances</option>
- <indexterm><primary><option>-fallow-undecidable-instances</option></primary></indexterm>
+ <option>-X=AllowUndecidableInstances</option>
+ <indexterm><primary><option>-X=AllowUndecidableInstances</option></primary></indexterm>
</term>
<term>
- <option>-fallow-incoherent-instances</option>
- <indexterm><primary><option>-fallow-incoherent-instances</option></primary></indexterm>
+ <option>-X=AllowIncoherentInstances</option>
+ <indexterm><primary><option>-X=AllowIncoherentInstances</option></primary></indexterm>
</term>
<term>
<option>-fcontext-stack=N</option>
<varlistentry>
<term>
- <option>-farrows</option>
- <indexterm><primary><option>-farrows</option></primary></indexterm>
+ <option>-X=Arrows</option>
+ <indexterm><primary><option>-X=Arrows</option></primary></indexterm>
</term>
<listitem>
<para>See <xref linkend="arrow-notation"/>. Independent of
<varlistentry>
<term>
- <option>-fgenerics</option>
- <indexterm><primary><option>-fgenerics</option></primary></indexterm>
+ <option>-X=Generics</option>
+ <indexterm><primary><option>-X=Generics</option></primary></indexterm>
</term>
<listitem>
<para>See <xref linkend="generic-classes"/>. Independent of
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term><option>-fno-implicit-prelude</option></term>
+ <term><option>-X=NoImplicitIrelude</option></term>
<listitem>
- <para><indexterm><primary>-fno-implicit-prelude
+ <para><indexterm><primary>-XnoImplicitPrelude
option</primary></indexterm> GHC normally imports
<filename>Prelude.hi</filename> files for you. If you'd
rather it didn't, then give it a
- <option>-fno-implicit-prelude</option> option. The idea is
+ <option>-XnoImplicitPrelude</option> option. The idea is
that you can then import a Prelude of your own. (But don't
call it <literal>Prelude</literal>; the Haskell module
namespace is flat, and you must not conflict with any
translation for list comprehensions continues to use
<literal>Prelude.map</literal> etc.</para>
- <para>However, <option>-fno-implicit-prelude</option> does
+ <para>However, <option>-X=NoImplicitPrelude</option> does
change the handling of certain built-in syntax: see <xref
linkend="rebindable-syntax"/>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term><option>-fimplicit-params</option></term>
+ <term><option>-X=ImplicitParams</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>Enables implicit parameters (see <xref
linkend="implicit-parameters"/>). Currently also implied by
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term><option>-fscoped-type-variables</option></term>
+ <term><option>-X=OverloadedStrings</option></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Enables overloaded string literals (see <xref
+ linkend="overloaded-strings"/>).</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><option>-X=ScopedTypeVariables</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>Enables lexically-scoped type variables (see <xref
linkend="scoped-type-variables"/>). Implied by
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term><option>-fth</option></term>
+ <term><option>-X=TH</option>, <option>-X=TemplateHaskell</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>Enables Template Haskell (see <xref
linkend="template-haskell"/>). This flag must
</sect1>
<!-- UNBOXED TYPES AND PRIMITIVE OPERATIONS -->
-<!-- included from primitives.sgml -->
-<!-- &primitives; -->
<sect1 id="primitives">
<title>Unboxed types and primitive operations</title>
(<literal>Double#</literal> for instance).
</para>
</listitem>
+<listitem><para> You cannot define a newtype whose representation type
+(the argument type of the data constructor) is an unboxed type. Thus,
+this is illegal:
+<programlisting>
+ newtype A = MkA Int#
+</programlisting>
+</para></listitem>
<listitem><para> You cannot bind a variable with an unboxed type
in a <emphasis>top-level</emphasis> binding.
</para></listitem>
linkend="search-path"/>.</para>
<para>GHC comes with a large collection of libraries arranged
- hierarchically; see the accompanying library documentation.
- There is an ongoing project to create and maintain a stable set
- of <quote>core</quote> libraries used by several Haskell
- compilers, and the libraries that GHC comes with represent the
- current status of that project. For more details, see <ulink
- url="http://www.haskell.org/~simonmar/libraries/libraries.html">Haskell
- Libraries</ulink>.</para>
-
+ hierarchically; see the accompanying <ulink
+ url="../libraries/index.html">library
+ documentation</ulink>. More libraries to install are available
+ from <ulink
+ url="http://hackage.haskell.org/packages/hackage.html">HackageDB</ulink>.</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ====================== PATTERN GUARDS ======================= -->
</para>
<programlisting>
-clunky env var1 var1 = case lookup env var1 of
+clunky env var1 var2 = case lookup env var1 of
Nothing -> fail
Just val1 -> case lookup env var2 of
Nothing -> fail
</para>
<programlisting>
-clunky env var1 var1
+clunky env var1 var2
| Just val1 <- lookup env var1
, Just val2 <- lookup env var2
= val1 + val2
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
-You should <literal>import Control.Monad.Fix</literal>.
-(Note: Strictly speaking, this import is required only when you need to refer to the name
-<literal>MonadFix</literal> in your program, but the import is always safe, and the programmers
-are encouraged to always import this module when using the mdo-notation.)
-</para></listitem>
-
-<listitem><para>
As with other extensions, ghc should be given the flag <literal>-fglasgow-exts</literal>
</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
hierarchy. It completely defeats that purpose if the
literal "1" means "<literal>Prelude.fromInteger
1</literal>", which is what the Haskell Report specifies.
- So the <option>-fno-implicit-prelude</option> flag causes
+ So the <option>-X=NoImplicitPrelude</option> flag causes
the following pieces of built-in syntax to refer to
<emphasis>whatever is in scope</emphasis>, not the Prelude
versions:
</sect2>
+<sect2 id="disambiguate-fields">
+<title>Record field disambiguation</title>
+<para>
+In record construction and record pattern matching
+it is entirely unambiguous which field is referred to, even if there are two different
+data types in scope with a common field name. For example:
+<programlisting>
+module M where
+ data S = MkS { x :: Int, y :: Bool }
+
+module Foo where
+ import M
+
+ data T = MkT { x :: Int }
+
+ ok1 (MkS { x = n }) = n+1 -- Unambiguous
+
+ ok2 n = MkT { x = n+1 } -- Unambiguous
+
+ bad1 k = k { x = 3 } -- Ambiguous
+ bad2 k = x k -- Ambiguous
+</programlisting>
+Even though there are two <literal>x</literal>'s in scope,
+it is clear that the <literal>x</literal> in the pattern in the
+definition of <literal>ok1</literal> can only mean the field
+<literal>x</literal> from type <literal>S</literal>. Similarly for
+the function <literal>ok2</literal>. However, in the record update
+in <literal>bad1</literal> and the record selection in <literal>bad2</literal>
+it is not clear which of the two types is intended.
+</para>
+<para>
+Haskell 98 regards all four as ambiguous, but with the
+<option>-fdisambiguate-record-fields</option> flag, GHC will accept
+the former two. The rules are precisely the same as those for instance
+declarations in Haskell 98, where the method names on the left-hand side
+of the method bindings in an instance declaration refer unambiguously
+to the method of that class (provided they are in scope at all), even
+if there are other variables in scope with the same name.
+This reduces the clutter of qualified names when you import two
+records from different modules that use the same field name.
+</para>
+</sect2>
</sect1>
<para>Syntactically, the declaration lacks the "= constrs" part. The
type can be parameterised over types of any kind, but if the kind is
not <literal>*</literal> then an explicit kind annotation must be used
-(see <xref linkend="sec-kinding"/>).</para>
+(see <xref linkend="kinding"/>).</para>
<para>Such data types have only one value, namely bottom.
Nevertheless, they can be useful when defining "phantom types".</para>
quite a bit of object-oriented-like programming this way.
</para>
-<sect4 id="existential">
+<sect3 id="existential">
<title>Why existential?
</title>
adding a new existential quantification construct.
</para>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4>
+<sect3>
<title>Type classes</title>
<para>
universal quantification earlier.
</para>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="existential-records">
+<sect3 id="existential-records">
<title>Record Constructors</title>
<para>
Here <literal>tag</literal> is a public field, with a well-typed selector
function <literal>tag :: Counter a -> a</literal>. The <literal>self</literal>
type is hidden from the outside; any attempt to apply <literal>_this</literal>,
-<literal>_inc</literal> or <literal>_output</literal> as functions will raise a
+<literal>_inc</literal> or <literal>_display</literal> as functions will raise a
compile-time error. In other words, <emphasis>GHC defines a record selector function
only for fields whose type does not mention the existentially-quantified variables</emphasis>.
(This example used an underscore in the fields for which record selectors
</para>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4>
+<sect3>
<title>Restrictions</title>
<para>
</para>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
</sect2>
<!-- ====================== Generalised algebraic data types ======================= -->
may use different notation to that implemented in GHC.
</para>
<para>
-The rest of this section outlines the extensions to GHC that support GADTs.
+The rest of this section outlines the extensions to GHC that support GADTs. The extension is enabled with
+<option>-X=GADTs</option>.
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>
A GADT can only be declared using GADT-style syntax (<xref linkend="gadt-style"/>);
<title>Stand-alone deriving declarations</title>
<para>
-GHC now allows stand-alone <literal>deriving</literal> declarations:
+GHC now allows stand-alone <literal>deriving</literal> declarations, enabled by <literal>-fglasgow-exts</literal>:
<programlisting>
data Foo a = Bar a | Baz String
following rules:
<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>
-For each assertion in the context:
+The Paterson Conditions: for each assertion in the context
<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>No type variable has more occurrences in the assertion than in the head</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>The assertion has fewer constructors and variables (taken together
</orderedlist>
</para></listitem>
-<listitem><para>The coverage condition. For each functional dependency,
+<listitem><para>The Coverage Condition. For each functional dependency,
<replaceable>tvs</replaceable><subscript>left</subscript> <literal>-></literal>
<replaceable>tvs</replaceable><subscript>right</subscript>, of the class,
every type variable in
</orderedlist>
These restrictions ensure that context reduction terminates: each reduction
step makes the problem smaller by at least one
-constructor. For example, the following would make the type checker
-loop if it wasn't excluded:
-<programlisting>
- instance C a => C a where ...
-</programlisting>
+constructor. Both the Paterson Conditions and the Coverage Condition are lifted
+if you give the <option>-fallow-undecidable-instances</option>
+flag (<xref linkend="undecidable-instances"/>).
+You can find lots of background material about the reason for these
+restrictions in the paper <ulink
+url="http://research.microsoft.com/%7Esimonpj/papers/fd%2Dchr/">
+Understanding functional dependencies via Constraint Handling Rules</ulink>.
+</para>
+<para>
For example, these are OK:
<programlisting>
instance C Int [a] -- Multiple parameters
op = ... -- Default
</programlisting>
</para>
-<para>You can find lots of background material about the reason for these
-restrictions in the paper <ulink
-url="http://research.microsoft.com/%7Esimonpj/papers/fd%2Dchr/">
-Understanding functional dependencies via Constraint Handling Rules</ulink>.
-</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="undecidable-instances">
</para>
<para>
Nevertheless, GHC allows you to experiment with more liberal rules. If you use
-the experimental flag <option>-fallow-undecidable-instances</option>
-<indexterm><primary>-fallow-undecidable-instances
-option</primary></indexterm>, you can use arbitrary
-types in both an instance context and instance head. Termination is ensured by having a
+the experimental flag <option>-X=AllowUndecidableInstances</option>
+<indexterm><primary>-X=AllowUndecidableInstances</primary></indexterm>,
+both the Paterson Conditions and the Coverage Condition
+(described in <xref linkend="instance-rules"/>) are lifted. Termination is ensured by having a
fixed-depth recursion stack. If you exceed the stack depth you get a
sort of backtrace, and the opportunity to increase the stack depth
with <option>-fcontext-stack=</option><emphasis>N</emphasis>.
In general, <emphasis>GHC requires that that it be unambiguous which instance
declaration
should be used to resolve a type-class constraint</emphasis>. This behaviour
-can be modified by two flags: <option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option>
-<indexterm><primary>-fallow-overlapping-instances
+can be modified by two flags: <option>-X=AllowOverlappingInstances</option>
+<indexterm><primary>-X=AllowOverlappingInstances
</primary></indexterm>
-and <option>-fallow-incoherent-instances</option>
-<indexterm><primary>-fallow-incoherent-instances
+and <option>-X=AllowIncoherentInstances</option>
+<indexterm><primary>-X=AllowIncoherentInstances
</primary></indexterm>, as this section discusses. Both these
flags are dynamic flags, and can be set on a per-module basis, using
an <literal>OPTIONS_GHC</literal> pragma if desired (<xref linkend="source-file-options"/>).</para>
</para>
<para>
-The <option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option> flag instructs GHC to allow
+The <option>-X=AllowOverlappingInstances</option> flag instructs GHC to allow
more than one instance to match, provided there is a most specific one. For
example, the constraint <literal>C Int [Int]</literal> matches instances (A),
(C) and (D), but the last is more specific, and hence is chosen. If there is no
GHC does not commit to instance (C), because in a particular
call of <literal>f</literal>, <literal>b</literal> might be instantiate
to <literal>Int</literal>, in which case instance (D) would be more specific still.
-So GHC rejects the program. If you add the flag <option>-fallow-incoherent-instances</option>,
+So GHC rejects the program. If you add the flag <option>-X=AllowIncoherentInstances</option>,
GHC will instead pick (C), without complaining about
the problem of subsequent instantiations.
</para>
<para>
The willingness to be overlapped or incoherent is a property of
the <emphasis>instance declaration</emphasis> itself, controlled by the
-presence or otherwise of the <option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option>
-and <option>-fallow-incoherent-instances</option> flags when that mdodule is
+presence or otherwise of the <option>-X=AllowOverlappingInstances</option>
+and <option>-X=AllowIncoherentInstances</option> flags when that mdodule is
being defined. Neither flag is required in a module that imports and uses the
instance declaration. Specifically, during the lookup process:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>
An instance declaration is ignored during the lookup process if (a) a more specific
match is found, and (b) the instance declaration was compiled with
-<option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option>. The flag setting for the
+<option>-X=AllowOverlappingInstances</option>. The flag setting for the
more-specific instance does not matter.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
does unify with it, so that it might match when the constraint is further
instantiated. Usually GHC will regard this as a reason for not committing to
some other constraint. But if the instance declaration was compiled with
-<option>-fallow-incoherent-instances</option>, GHC will skip the "does-it-unify?"
+<option>-X=AllowIncoherentInstances</option>, GHC will skip the "does-it-unify?"
check for that declaration.
</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
<para>
If an instance declaration is compiled without
-<option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option>,
+<option>-X=AllowOverlappingInstances</option>,
then that instance can never be overlapped. This could perhaps be
inconvenient. Perhaps the rule should instead say that the
<emphasis>overlapping</emphasis> instance declaration should be compiled in
this way, rather than the <emphasis>overlapped</emphasis> one. Perhaps overlap
at a usage site should be permitted regardless of how the instance declarations
-are compiled, if the <option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option> flag is
+are compiled, if the <option>-X=AllowOverlappingInstances</option> flag is
used at the usage site. (Mind you, the exact usage site can occasionally be
hard to pin down.) We are interested to receive feedback on these points.
</para>
-<para>The <option>-fallow-incoherent-instances</option> flag implies the
-<option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option> flag, but not vice versa.
+<para>The <option>-X=AllowIncoherentInstances</option> flag implies the
+<option>-X=AllowOverlappingInstances</option> flag, but not vice versa.
</para>
</sect3>
due to Jeff Lewis.)</para>
<para>Implicit parameter support is enabled with the option
-<option>-fimplicit-params</option>.</para>
+<option>-X=ImplicitParams</option>.</para>
<para>
A variable is called <emphasis>dynamically bound</emphasis> when it is bound by the calling
================ END OF Linear Implicit Parameters commented out -->
-<sect2 id="sec-kinding">
+<sect2 id="kinding">
<title>Explicitly-kinded quantification</title>
<para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem> <para> On the left or right (see <literal>f4</literal>, for example)
of a function arrow </para> </listitem>
-<listitem> <para> On the right of a function arrow (see <xref linkend="hoist"/>) </para> </listitem>
<listitem> <para> As the argument of a constructor, or type of a field, in a data type declaration. For
example, any of the <literal>f1,f2,f3,g1,g2</literal> above would be valid
field type signatures.</para> </listitem>
<para>Following a suggestion of Mark Jones, in his paper
<ulink url="http://www.cse.ogi.edu/~mpj/thih/">Typing Haskell in
Haskell</ulink>,
-GHC implements a more general scheme. If <option>-fglasgow-exts</option> is
+GHC implements a more general scheme. If <option>-X=RelaxedPolyRec</option> is
specified:
<emphasis>the dependency analysis ignores references to variables that have an explicit
type signature</emphasis>.
The same refined dependency analysis also allows the type signatures of
mutually-recursive functions to have different contexts, something that is illegal in
Haskell 98 (Section 4.5.2, last sentence). With
-<option>-fglasgow-exts</option>
+<option>-X=RelaxedPolyRec</option>
GHC only insists that the type signatures of a <emphasis>refined</emphasis> group have identical
type signatures; in practice this means that only variables bound by the same
pattern binding must have the same context. For example, this is fine:
</para>
</sect2>
+<sect2 id="overloaded-strings">
+<title>Overloaded string literals
+</title>
+
+<para>
+GHC supports <emphasis>overloaded string literals</emphasis>. Normally a
+string literal has type <literal>String</literal>, but with overloaded string
+literals enabled (with <literal>-X=OverloadedStrings</literal>)
+ a string literal has type <literal>(IsString a) => a</literal>.
+</para>
+<para>
+This means that the usual string syntax can be used, e.g., for packed strings
+and other variations of string like types. String literals behave very much
+like integer literals, i.e., they can be used in both expressions and patterns.
+If used in a pattern the literal with be replaced by an equality test, in the same
+way as an integer literal is.
+</para>
+<para>
+The class <literal>IsString</literal> is defined as:
+<programlisting>
+class IsString a where
+ fromString :: String -> a
+</programlisting>
+The only predefined instance is the obvious one to make strings work as usual:
+<programlisting>
+instance IsString [Char] where
+ fromString cs = cs
+</programlisting>
+The class <literal>IsString</literal> is not in scope by default. If you want to mention
+it explicitly (for exmaple, to give an instance declaration for it), you can import it
+from module <literal>GHC.Exts</literal>.
+</para>
+<para>
+Haskell's defaulting mechanism is extended to cover string literals, when <option>-X-OverloadedStrings</option> is specified.
+Specifically:
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>
+Each type in a default declaration must be an
+instance of <literal>Num</literal> <emphasis>or</emphasis> of <literal>IsString</literal>.
+</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>
+The standard defaulting rule (<ulink url="http://haskell.org/onlinereport/decls.html#sect4.3.4">Haskell Report, Section 4.3.4</ulink>)
+is extended thus: defaulting applies when all the unresolved constraints involve standard classes
+<emphasis>or</emphasis> <literal>IsString</literal>; and at least one is a numeric class
+<emphasis>or</emphasis> <literal>IsString</literal>.
+</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+A small example:
+<programlisting>
+module Main where
+
+import GHC.Exts( IsString(..) )
+
+newtype MyString = MyString String deriving (Eq, Show)
+instance IsString MyString where
+ fromString = MyString
+
+greet :: MyString -> MyString
+greet "hello" = "world"
+greet other = other
+
+main = do
+ print $ greet "hello"
+ print $ greet "fool"
+</programlisting>
+</para>
+<para>
+Note that deriving <literal>Eq</literal> is necessary for the pattern matching
+to work since it gets translated into an equality comparison.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="type-families">
+<title>Type families
+</title>
+
+<para>
+GHC supports the definition of type families indexed by types. They may be
+seen as an extension of Haskell 98's class-based overloading of values to
+types. When type families are declared in classes, they are also known as
+associated types.
+</para>
+<para>
+There are two forms of type families: data families and type synonym families.
+Currently, only the former are fully implemented, while we are still working
+on the latter. As a result, the specification of the language extension is
+also still to some degree in flux. Hence, a more detailed description of
+the language extension and its use is currently available
+from <ulink url="http://haskell.org/haskellwiki/GHC/Indexed_types">the Haskell
+wiki page on type families</ulink>. The material will be moved to this user's
+guide when it has stabilised.
+</para>
+<para>
+Type families are enabled by the flag <option>-X=TypeFamilies</option>.
+</para>
+
+
+</sect2>
+
</sect1>
<!-- ==================== End of type system extensions ================= -->
<para> Template Haskell has the following new syntactic
constructions. You need to use the flag
- <option>-fth</option><indexterm><primary><option>-fth</option></primary>
+ <option>-X=TemplateHaskell</option> or <option>-X=TH</option>
+ <indexterm><primary><option>-X=TemplateHaskell</option></primary>
</indexterm>to switch these syntactic extensions on
- (<option>-fth</option> is no longer implied by
+ (<option>-X=TemplateHaskell</option> is no longer implied by
<option>-fglasgow-exts</option>).</para>
<itemizedlist>
the quotation has type <literal>Expr</literal>.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para> <literal>[d| ... |]</literal>, where the "..." is a list of top-level declarations;
the quotation has type <literal>Q [Dec]</literal>.</para></listitem>
- <listitem><para> [Planned, but not implemented yet.] <literal>[t| ... |]</literal>, where the "..." is a type;
+ <listitem><para> <literal>[t| ... |]</literal>, where the "..." is a type;
the quotation has type <literal>Type</literal>.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist></para></listitem>
(It would make sense to do so, but it's hard to implement.)
</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>
+ Furthermore, you can only run a function at compile time if it is imported
+ from another module <emphasis>that is not part of a mutually-recursive group of modules
+ that includes the module currently being compiled</emphasis>. For example, when compiling module A,
+ you can only run Template Haskell functions imported from B if B does not import A (directly or indirectly).
+ The reason should be clear: to run B we must compile and run A, but we are currently type-checking A.
+ </para></listitem>
+
<listitem><para>
The flag <literal>-ddump-splices</literal> shows the expansion of all top-level splices as they happen.
</para></listitem>
<para>Now run the compiler (here we are a Cygwin prompt on Windows):
</para>
<programlisting>
-$ ghc --make -fth main.hs -o main.exe
+$ ghc --make -X=TemplateHaskell main.hs -o main.exe
</programlisting>
<para>Run "main.exe" and here is your output:</para>
</itemizedlist>
and the arrows web page at
<ulink url="http://www.haskell.org/arrows/"><literal>http://www.haskell.org/arrows/</literal></ulink>.
-With the <option>-farrows</option> flag, GHC supports the arrow
+With the <option>-X=Arrows</option> flag, GHC supports the arrow
notation described in the second of these papers.
What follows is a brief introduction to the notation;
it won't make much sense unless you've read Hughes's paper.
<!-- ==================== BANG PATTERNS ================= -->
-<sect1 id="sec-bang-patterns">
+<sect1 id="bang-patterns">
<title>Bang patterns
<indexterm><primary>Bang patterns</primary></indexterm>
</title>
than the material below.
</para>
<para>
-Bang patterns are enabled by the flag <option>-fbang-patterns</option>.
+Bang patterns are enabled by the flag <option>-X=BangPatterns</option>.
</para>
-<sect2 id="sec-bang-patterns-informal">
+<sect2 id="bang-patterns-informal">
<title>Informal description of bang patterns
</title>
<para>
</sect2>
-<sect2 id="sec-bang-patterns-sem">
+<sect2 id="bang-patterns-sem">
<title>Syntax and semantics
</title>
<para>
<!-- ==================== ASSERTIONS ================= -->
-<sect1 id="sec-assertions">
+<sect1 id="assertions">
<title>Assertions
<indexterm><primary>Assertions</primary></indexterm>
</title>
<listitem>
<para>
- <function>length</function>
-</para>
-</listitem>
-<listitem>
-
-<para>
<function>++</function> (on its first argument)
</para>
</listitem>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Use the flags <option>-fglasgow-exts</option> (to enable the extra syntax),
- <option>-fgenerics</option> (to generate extra per-data-type code),
+ <option>-X=Generics</option> (to generate extra per-data-type code),
and <option>-package lang</option> (to make the <literal>Generics</literal> library
available. </para>
</listitem>
<sect2>
<title>Switching off the dreaded Monomorphism Restriction</title>
- <indexterm><primary><option>-fno-monomorphism-restriction</option></primary></indexterm>
+ <indexterm><primary><option>-X=NoMonomorphismRestriction</option></primary></indexterm>
<para>Haskell's monomorphism restriction (see
<ulink url="http://haskell.org/onlinereport/decls.html#sect4.5.5">Section
4.5.5</ulink>
of the Haskell Report)
can be completely switched off by
-<option>-fno-monomorphism-restriction</option>.
+<option>-X=NoMonomorphismRestriction</option>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>Monomorphic pattern bindings</title>
- <indexterm><primary><option>-fno-mono-pat-binds</option></primary></indexterm>
- <indexterm><primary><option>-fmono-pat-binds</option></primary></indexterm>
+ <indexterm><primary><option>-X=NoMonoPatBinds</option></primary></indexterm>
+ <indexterm><primary><option>-X=MonoPatBinds</option></primary></indexterm>
<para> As an experimental change, we are exploring the possibility of
making pattern bindings monomorphic; that is, not generalised at all.
[x] = e -- A pattern binding
</programlisting>
Experimentally, GHC now makes pattern bindings monomorphic <emphasis>by
-default</emphasis>. Use <option>-fno-mono-pat-binds</option> to recover the
+default</emphasis>. Use <option>-X=MonoPatBinds</option> to recover the
standard behaviour.
</para>
</sect2>