1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
3 <indexterm><primary>language, GHC</primary></indexterm>
4 <indexterm><primary>extensions, GHC</primary></indexterm>
5 As with all known Haskell systems, GHC implements some extensions to
6 the language. They are all enabled by options; by default GHC
7 understands only plain Haskell 98.
11 Some of the Glasgow extensions serve to give you access to the
12 underlying facilities with which we implement Haskell. Thus, you can
13 get at the Raw Iron, if you are willing to write some non-portable
14 code at a more primitive level. You need not be “stuck”
15 on performance because of the implementation costs of Haskell's
16 “high-level” features—you can always code
17 “under” them. In an extreme case, you can write all your
18 time-critical code in C, and then just glue it together with Haskell!
22 Before you get too carried away working at the lowest level (e.g.,
23 sloshing <literal>MutableByteArray#</literal>s around your
24 program), you may wish to check if there are libraries that provide a
25 “Haskellised veneer” over the features you want. The
26 separate <ulink url="../libraries/index.html">libraries
27 documentation</ulink> describes all the libraries that come with GHC.
30 <!-- LANGUAGE OPTIONS -->
31 <sect1 id="options-language">
32 <title>Language options</title>
34 <indexterm><primary>language</primary><secondary>option</secondary>
36 <indexterm><primary>options</primary><secondary>language</secondary>
38 <indexterm><primary>extensions</primary><secondary>options controlling</secondary>
41 <para>These flags control what variation of the language are
42 permitted. Leaving out all of them gives you standard Haskell
45 <para>NB. turning on an option that enables special syntax
46 <emphasis>might</emphasis> cause working Haskell 98 code to fail
47 to compile, perhaps because it uses a variable name which has
48 become a reserved word. So, together with each option below, we
49 list the special syntax which is enabled by this option. We use
50 notation and nonterminal names from the Haskell 98 lexical syntax
51 (see the Haskell 98 Report). There are two classes of special
56 <para>New reserved words and symbols: character sequences
57 which are no longer available for use as identifiers in the
61 <para>Other special syntax: sequences of characters that have
62 a different meaning when this particular option is turned
67 <para>We are only listing syntax changes here that might affect
68 existing working programs (i.e. "stolen" syntax). Many of these
69 extensions will also enable new context-free syntax, but in all
70 cases programs written to use the new syntax would not be
71 compilable without the option enabled.</para>
77 <option>-fglasgow-exts</option>:
78 <indexterm><primary><option>-fglasgow-exts</option></primary></indexterm>
81 <para>This simultaneously enables all of the extensions to
82 Haskell 98 described in <xref
83 linkend="ghc-language-features"/>, except where otherwise
86 <para>New reserved words: <literal>forall</literal> (only in
87 types), <literal>mdo</literal>.</para>
89 <para>Other syntax stolen:
90 <replaceable>varid</replaceable>{<literal>#</literal>},
91 <replaceable>char</replaceable><literal>#</literal>,
92 <replaceable>string</replaceable><literal>#</literal>,
93 <replaceable>integer</replaceable><literal>#</literal>,
94 <replaceable>float</replaceable><literal>#</literal>,
95 <replaceable>float</replaceable><literal>##</literal>,
96 <literal>(#</literal>, <literal>#)</literal>,
97 <literal>|)</literal>, <literal>{|</literal>.</para>
103 <option>-ffi</option> and <option>-fffi</option>:
104 <indexterm><primary><option>-ffi</option></primary></indexterm>
105 <indexterm><primary><option>-fffi</option></primary></indexterm>
108 <para>This option enables the language extension defined in the
109 Haskell 98 Foreign Function Interface Addendum plus deprecated
110 syntax of previous versions of the FFI for backwards
111 compatibility.</para>
113 <para>New reserved words: <literal>foreign</literal>.</para>
119 <option>-fno-monomorphism-restriction</option>:
120 <indexterm><primary><option>-fno-monomorphism-restriction</option></primary></indexterm>
123 <para> Switch off the Haskell 98 monomorphism restriction.
124 Independent of the <option>-fglasgow-exts</option>
131 <option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option>
132 <indexterm><primary><option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option></primary></indexterm>
135 <option>-fallow-undecidable-instances</option>
136 <indexterm><primary><option>-fallow-undecidable-instances</option></primary></indexterm>
139 <option>-fallow-incoherent-instances</option>
140 <indexterm><primary><option>-fallow-incoherent-instances</option></primary></indexterm>
143 <option>-fcontext-stack</option>
144 <indexterm><primary><option>-fcontext-stack</option></primary></indexterm>
147 <para> See <xref linkend="instance-decls"/>. Only relevant
148 if you also use <option>-fglasgow-exts</option>.</para>
154 <option>-finline-phase</option>
155 <indexterm><primary><option>-finline-phase</option></primary></indexterm>
158 <para>See <xref linkend="rewrite-rules"/>. Only relevant if
159 you also use <option>-fglasgow-exts</option>.</para>
165 <option>-farrows</option>
166 <indexterm><primary><option>-farrows</option></primary></indexterm>
169 <para>See <xref linkend="arrow-notation"/>. Independent of
170 <option>-fglasgow-exts</option>.</para>
172 <para>New reserved words/symbols: <literal>rec</literal>,
173 <literal>proc</literal>, <literal>-<</literal>,
174 <literal>>-</literal>, <literal>-<<</literal>,
175 <literal>>>-</literal>.</para>
177 <para>Other syntax stolen: <literal>(|</literal>,
178 <literal>|)</literal>.</para>
184 <option>-fgenerics</option>
185 <indexterm><primary><option>-fgenerics</option></primary></indexterm>
188 <para>See <xref linkend="generic-classes"/>. Independent of
189 <option>-fglasgow-exts</option>.</para>
194 <term><option>-fno-implicit-prelude</option></term>
196 <para><indexterm><primary>-fno-implicit-prelude
197 option</primary></indexterm> GHC normally imports
198 <filename>Prelude.hi</filename> files for you. If you'd
199 rather it didn't, then give it a
200 <option>-fno-implicit-prelude</option> option. The idea is
201 that you can then import a Prelude of your own. (But don't
202 call it <literal>Prelude</literal>; the Haskell module
203 namespace is flat, and you must not conflict with any
204 Prelude module.)</para>
206 <para>Even though you have not imported the Prelude, most of
207 the built-in syntax still refers to the built-in Haskell
208 Prelude types and values, as specified by the Haskell
209 Report. For example, the type <literal>[Int]</literal>
210 still means <literal>Prelude.[] Int</literal>; tuples
211 continue to refer to the standard Prelude tuples; the
212 translation for list comprehensions continues to use
213 <literal>Prelude.map</literal> etc.</para>
215 <para>However, <option>-fno-implicit-prelude</option> does
216 change the handling of certain built-in syntax: see <xref
217 linkend="rebindable-syntax"/>.</para>
222 <term><option>-fimplicit-params</option></term>
224 <para>Enables implicit parameters (see <xref
225 linkend="implicit-parameters"/>). Currently also implied by
226 <option>-fglasgow-exts</option>.</para>
229 <literal>?<replaceable>varid</replaceable></literal>,
230 <literal>%<replaceable>varid</replaceable></literal>.</para>
235 <term><option>-fscoped-type-variables</option></term>
237 <para>Enables lexically-scoped type variables (see <xref
238 linkend="scoped-type-variables"/>). Implied by
239 <option>-fglasgow-exts</option>.</para>
244 <term><option>-fth</option></term>
246 <para>Enables Template Haskell (see <xref
247 linkend="template-haskell"/>). Currently also implied by
248 <option>-fglasgow-exts</option>.</para>
250 <para>Syntax stolen: <literal>[|</literal>,
251 <literal>[e|</literal>, <literal>[p|</literal>,
252 <literal>[d|</literal>, <literal>[t|</literal>,
253 <literal>$(</literal>,
254 <literal>$<replaceable>varid</replaceable></literal>.</para>
261 <!-- UNBOXED TYPES AND PRIMITIVE OPERATIONS -->
262 <!-- included from primitives.sgml -->
263 <!-- &primitives; -->
264 <sect1 id="primitives">
265 <title>Unboxed types and primitive operations</title>
267 <para>GHC is built on a raft of primitive data types and operations.
268 While you really can use this stuff to write fast code,
269 we generally find it a lot less painful, and more satisfying in the
270 long run, to use higher-level language features and libraries. With
271 any luck, the code you write will be optimised to the efficient
272 unboxed version in any case. And if it isn't, we'd like to know
275 <para>We do not currently have good, up-to-date documentation about the
276 primitives, perhaps because they are mainly intended for internal use.
277 There used to be a long section about them here in the User Guide, but it
278 became out of date, and wrong information is worse than none.</para>
280 <para>The Real Truth about what primitive types there are, and what operations
281 work over those types, is held in the file
282 <filename>fptools/ghc/compiler/prelude/primops.txt.pp</filename>.
283 This file is used directly to generate GHC's primitive-operation definitions, so
284 it is always correct! It is also intended for processing into text.</para>
287 the result of such processing is part of the description of the
289 url="http://haskell.cs.yale.edu/ghc/docs/papers/core.ps.gz">External
290 Core language</ulink>.
291 So that document is a good place to look for a type-set version.
292 We would be very happy if someone wanted to volunteer to produce an SGML
293 back end to the program that processes <filename>primops.txt</filename> so that
294 we could include the results here in the User Guide.</para>
296 <para>What follows here is a brief summary of some main points.</para>
298 <sect2 id="glasgow-unboxed">
303 <indexterm><primary>Unboxed types (Glasgow extension)</primary></indexterm>
306 <para>Most types in GHC are <firstterm>boxed</firstterm>, which means
307 that values of that type are represented by a pointer to a heap
308 object. The representation of a Haskell <literal>Int</literal>, for
309 example, is a two-word heap object. An <firstterm>unboxed</firstterm>
310 type, however, is represented by the value itself, no pointers or heap
311 allocation are involved.
315 Unboxed types correspond to the “raw machine” types you
316 would use in C: <literal>Int#</literal> (long int),
317 <literal>Double#</literal> (double), <literal>Addr#</literal>
318 (void *), etc. The <emphasis>primitive operations</emphasis>
319 (PrimOps) on these types are what you might expect; e.g.,
320 <literal>(+#)</literal> is addition on
321 <literal>Int#</literal>s, and is the machine-addition that we all
322 know and love—usually one instruction.
326 Primitive (unboxed) types cannot be defined in Haskell, and are
327 therefore built into the language and compiler. Primitive types are
328 always unlifted; that is, a value of a primitive type cannot be
329 bottom. We use the convention that primitive types, values, and
330 operations have a <literal>#</literal> suffix.
334 Primitive values are often represented by a simple bit-pattern, such
335 as <literal>Int#</literal>, <literal>Float#</literal>,
336 <literal>Double#</literal>. But this is not necessarily the case:
337 a primitive value might be represented by a pointer to a
338 heap-allocated object. Examples include
339 <literal>Array#</literal>, the type of primitive arrays. A
340 primitive array is heap-allocated because it is too big a value to fit
341 in a register, and would be too expensive to copy around; in a sense,
342 it is accidental that it is represented by a pointer. If a pointer
343 represents a primitive value, then it really does point to that value:
344 no unevaluated thunks, no indirections…nothing can be at the
345 other end of the pointer than the primitive value.
346 A numerically-intensive program using unboxed types can
347 go a <emphasis>lot</emphasis> faster than its “standard”
348 counterpart—we saw a threefold speedup on one example.
352 There are some restrictions on the use of primitive types:
354 <listitem><para>The main restriction
355 is that you can't pass a primitive value to a polymorphic
356 function or store one in a polymorphic data type. This rules out
357 things like <literal>[Int#]</literal> (i.e. lists of primitive
358 integers). The reason for this restriction is that polymorphic
359 arguments and constructor fields are assumed to be pointers: if an
360 unboxed integer is stored in one of these, the garbage collector would
361 attempt to follow it, leading to unpredictable space leaks. Or a
362 <function>seq</function> operation on the polymorphic component may
363 attempt to dereference the pointer, with disastrous results. Even
364 worse, the unboxed value might be larger than a pointer
365 (<literal>Double#</literal> for instance).
368 <listitem><para> You cannot bind a variable with an unboxed type
369 in a <emphasis>top-level</emphasis> binding.
371 <listitem><para> You cannot bind a variable with an unboxed type
372 in a <emphasis>recursive</emphasis> binding.
374 <listitem><para> You may bind unboxed variables in a (non-recursive,
375 non-top-level) pattern binding, but any such variable causes the entire
377 to become strict. For example:
379 data Foo = Foo Int Int#
381 f x = let (Foo a b, w) = ..rhs.. in ..body..
383 Since <literal>b</literal> has type <literal>Int#</literal>, the entire pattern
385 is strict, and the program behaves as if you had written
387 data Foo = Foo Int Int#
389 f x = case ..rhs.. of { (Foo a b, w) -> ..body.. }
398 <sect2 id="unboxed-tuples">
399 <title>Unboxed Tuples
403 Unboxed tuples aren't really exported by <literal>GHC.Exts</literal>,
404 they're available by default with <option>-fglasgow-exts</option>. An
405 unboxed tuple looks like this:
417 where <literal>e_1..e_n</literal> are expressions of any
418 type (primitive or non-primitive). The type of an unboxed tuple looks
423 Unboxed tuples are used for functions that need to return multiple
424 values, but they avoid the heap allocation normally associated with
425 using fully-fledged tuples. When an unboxed tuple is returned, the
426 components are put directly into registers or on the stack; the
427 unboxed tuple itself does not have a composite representation. Many
428 of the primitive operations listed in <literal>primops.txt.pp</literal> return unboxed
430 In particular, the <literal>IO</literal> and <literal>ST</literal> monads use unboxed
431 tuples to avoid unnecessary allocation during sequences of operations.
435 There are some pretty stringent restrictions on the use of unboxed tuples:
440 Values of unboxed tuple types are subject to the same restrictions as
441 other unboxed types; i.e. they may not be stored in polymorphic data
442 structures or passed to polymorphic functions.
449 No variable can have an unboxed tuple type, nor may a constructor or function
450 argument have an unboxed tuple type. The following are all illegal:
454 data Foo = Foo (# Int, Int #)
456 f :: (# Int, Int #) -> (# Int, Int #)
459 g :: (# Int, Int #) -> Int
462 h x = let y = (# x,x #) in ...
469 The typical use of unboxed tuples is simply to return multiple values,
470 binding those multiple results with a <literal>case</literal> expression, thus:
472 f x y = (# x+1, y-1 #)
473 g x = case f x x of { (# a, b #) -> a + b }
475 You can have an unboxed tuple in a pattern binding, thus
477 f x = let (# p,q #) = h x in ..body..
479 If the types of <literal>p</literal> and <literal>q</literal> are not unboxed,
480 the resulting binding is lazy like any other Haskell pattern binding. The
481 above example desugars like this:
483 f x = let t = case h x o f{ (# p,q #) -> (p,q)
488 Indeed, the bindings can even be recursive.
495 <!-- ====================== SYNTACTIC EXTENSIONS ======================= -->
497 <sect1 id="syntax-extns">
498 <title>Syntactic extensions</title>
500 <!-- ====================== HIERARCHICAL MODULES ======================= -->
502 <sect2 id="hierarchical-modules">
503 <title>Hierarchical Modules</title>
505 <para>GHC supports a small extension to the syntax of module
506 names: a module name is allowed to contain a dot
507 <literal>‘.’</literal>. This is also known as the
508 “hierarchical module namespace” extension, because
509 it extends the normally flat Haskell module namespace into a
510 more flexible hierarchy of modules.</para>
512 <para>This extension has very little impact on the language
513 itself; modules names are <emphasis>always</emphasis> fully
514 qualified, so you can just think of the fully qualified module
515 name as <quote>the module name</quote>. In particular, this
516 means that the full module name must be given after the
517 <literal>module</literal> keyword at the beginning of the
518 module; for example, the module <literal>A.B.C</literal> must
521 <programlisting>module A.B.C</programlisting>
524 <para>It is a common strategy to use the <literal>as</literal>
525 keyword to save some typing when using qualified names with
526 hierarchical modules. For example:</para>
529 import qualified Control.Monad.ST.Strict as ST
532 <para>For details on how GHC searches for source and interface
533 files in the presence of hierarchical modules, see <xref
534 linkend="search-path"/>.</para>
536 <para>GHC comes with a large collection of libraries arranged
537 hierarchically; see the accompanying library documentation.
538 There is an ongoing project to create and maintain a stable set
539 of <quote>core</quote> libraries used by several Haskell
540 compilers, and the libraries that GHC comes with represent the
541 current status of that project. For more details, see <ulink
542 url="http://www.haskell.org/~simonmar/libraries/libraries.html">Haskell
543 Libraries</ulink>.</para>
547 <!-- ====================== PATTERN GUARDS ======================= -->
549 <sect2 id="pattern-guards">
550 <title>Pattern guards</title>
553 <indexterm><primary>Pattern guards (Glasgow extension)</primary></indexterm>
554 The discussion that follows is an abbreviated version of Simon Peyton Jones's original <ulink url="http://research.microsoft.com/~simonpj/Haskell/guards.html">proposal</ulink>. (Note that the proposal was written before pattern guards were implemented, so refers to them as unimplemented.)
558 Suppose we have an abstract data type of finite maps, with a
562 lookup :: FiniteMap -> Int -> Maybe Int
565 The lookup returns <function>Nothing</function> if the supplied key is not in the domain of the mapping, and <function>(Just v)</function> otherwise,
566 where <varname>v</varname> is the value that the key maps to. Now consider the following definition:
570 clunky env var1 var2 | ok1 && ok2 = val1 + val2
571 | otherwise = var1 + var2
582 The auxiliary functions are
586 maybeToBool :: Maybe a -> Bool
587 maybeToBool (Just x) = True
588 maybeToBool Nothing = False
590 expectJust :: Maybe a -> a
591 expectJust (Just x) = x
592 expectJust Nothing = error "Unexpected Nothing"
596 What is <function>clunky</function> doing? The guard <literal>ok1 &&
597 ok2</literal> checks that both lookups succeed, using
598 <function>maybeToBool</function> to convert the <function>Maybe</function>
599 types to booleans. The (lazily evaluated) <function>expectJust</function>
600 calls extract the values from the results of the lookups, and binds the
601 returned values to <varname>val1</varname> and <varname>val2</varname>
602 respectively. If either lookup fails, then clunky takes the
603 <literal>otherwise</literal> case and returns the sum of its arguments.
607 This is certainly legal Haskell, but it is a tremendously verbose and
608 un-obvious way to achieve the desired effect. Arguably, a more direct way
609 to write clunky would be to use case expressions:
613 clunky env var1 var1 = case lookup env var1 of
615 Just val1 -> case lookup env var2 of
617 Just val2 -> val1 + val2
623 This is a bit shorter, but hardly better. Of course, we can rewrite any set
624 of pattern-matching, guarded equations as case expressions; that is
625 precisely what the compiler does when compiling equations! The reason that
626 Haskell provides guarded equations is because they allow us to write down
627 the cases we want to consider, one at a time, independently of each other.
628 This structure is hidden in the case version. Two of the right-hand sides
629 are really the same (<function>fail</function>), and the whole expression
630 tends to become more and more indented.
634 Here is how I would write clunky:
639 | Just val1 <- lookup env var1
640 , Just val2 <- lookup env var2
642 ...other equations for clunky...
646 The semantics should be clear enough. The qualifiers are matched in order.
647 For a <literal><-</literal> qualifier, which I call a pattern guard, the
648 right hand side is evaluated and matched against the pattern on the left.
649 If the match fails then the whole guard fails and the next equation is
650 tried. If it succeeds, then the appropriate binding takes place, and the
651 next qualifier is matched, in the augmented environment. Unlike list
652 comprehensions, however, the type of the expression to the right of the
653 <literal><-</literal> is the same as the type of the pattern to its
654 left. The bindings introduced by pattern guards scope over all the
655 remaining guard qualifiers, and over the right hand side of the equation.
659 Just as with list comprehensions, boolean expressions can be freely mixed
660 with among the pattern guards. For example:
671 Haskell's current guards therefore emerge as a special case, in which the
672 qualifier list has just one element, a boolean expression.
676 <!-- ===================== Recursive do-notation =================== -->
678 <sect2 id="mdo-notation">
679 <title>The recursive do-notation
682 <para> The recursive do-notation (also known as mdo-notation) is implemented as described in
683 "A recursive do for Haskell",
684 Levent Erkok, John Launchbury",
685 Haskell Workshop 2002, pages: 29-37. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
688 The do-notation of Haskell does not allow <emphasis>recursive bindings</emphasis>,
689 that is, the variables bound in a do-expression are visible only in the textually following
690 code block. Compare this to a let-expression, where bound variables are visible in the entire binding
691 group. It turns out that several applications can benefit from recursive bindings in
692 the do-notation, and this extension provides the necessary syntactic support.
695 Here is a simple (yet contrived) example:
698 import Control.Monad.Fix
700 justOnes = mdo xs <- Just (1:xs)
704 As you can guess <literal>justOnes</literal> will evaluate to <literal>Just [1,1,1,...</literal>.
708 The Control.Monad.Fix library introduces the <literal>MonadFix</literal> class. It's definition is:
711 class Monad m => MonadFix m where
712 mfix :: (a -> m a) -> m a
715 The function <literal>mfix</literal>
716 dictates how the required recursion operation should be performed. If recursive bindings are required for a monad,
717 then that monad must be declared an instance of the <literal>MonadFix</literal> class.
718 For details, see the above mentioned reference.
721 The following instances of <literal>MonadFix</literal> are automatically provided: List, Maybe, IO.
722 Furthermore, the Control.Monad.ST and Control.Monad.ST.Lazy modules provide the instances of the MonadFix class
723 for Haskell's internal state monad (strict and lazy, respectively).
726 There are three important points in using the recursive-do notation:
729 The recursive version of the do-notation uses the keyword <literal>mdo</literal> (rather
730 than <literal>do</literal>).
734 You should <literal>import Control.Monad.Fix</literal>.
735 (Note: Strictly speaking, this import is required only when you need to refer to the name
736 <literal>MonadFix</literal> in your program, but the import is always safe, and the programmers
737 are encouraged to always import this module when using the mdo-notation.)
741 As with other extensions, ghc should be given the flag <literal>-fglasgow-exts</literal>
747 The web page: <ulink url="http://www.cse.ogi.edu/PacSoft/projects/rmb">http://www.cse.ogi.edu/PacSoft/projects/rmb</ulink>
748 contains up to date information on recursive monadic bindings.
752 Historical note: The old implementation of the mdo-notation (and most
753 of the existing documents) used the name
754 <literal>MonadRec</literal> for the class and the corresponding library.
755 This name is not supported by GHC.
761 <!-- ===================== PARALLEL LIST COMPREHENSIONS =================== -->
763 <sect2 id="parallel-list-comprehensions">
764 <title>Parallel List Comprehensions</title>
765 <indexterm><primary>list comprehensions</primary><secondary>parallel</secondary>
767 <indexterm><primary>parallel list comprehensions</primary>
770 <para>Parallel list comprehensions are a natural extension to list
771 comprehensions. List comprehensions can be thought of as a nice
772 syntax for writing maps and filters. Parallel comprehensions
773 extend this to include the zipWith family.</para>
775 <para>A parallel list comprehension has multiple independent
776 branches of qualifier lists, each separated by a `|' symbol. For
777 example, the following zips together two lists:</para>
780 [ (x, y) | x <- xs | y <- ys ]
783 <para>The behavior of parallel list comprehensions follows that of
784 zip, in that the resulting list will have the same length as the
785 shortest branch.</para>
787 <para>We can define parallel list comprehensions by translation to
788 regular comprehensions. Here's the basic idea:</para>
790 <para>Given a parallel comprehension of the form: </para>
793 [ e | p1 <- e11, p2 <- e12, ...
794 | q1 <- e21, q2 <- e22, ...
799 <para>This will be translated to: </para>
802 [ e | ((p1,p2), (q1,q2), ...) <- zipN [(p1,p2) | p1 <- e11, p2 <- e12, ...]
803 [(q1,q2) | q1 <- e21, q2 <- e22, ...]
808 <para>where `zipN' is the appropriate zip for the given number of
813 <sect2 id="rebindable-syntax">
814 <title>Rebindable syntax</title>
817 <para>GHC allows most kinds of built-in syntax to be rebound by
818 the user, to facilitate replacing the <literal>Prelude</literal>
819 with a home-grown version, for example.</para>
821 <para>You may want to define your own numeric class
822 hierarchy. It completely defeats that purpose if the
823 literal "1" means "<literal>Prelude.fromInteger
824 1</literal>", which is what the Haskell Report specifies.
825 So the <option>-fno-implicit-prelude</option> flag causes
826 the following pieces of built-in syntax to refer to
827 <emphasis>whatever is in scope</emphasis>, not the Prelude
832 <para>An integer literal <literal>368</literal> means
833 "<literal>fromInteger (368::Integer)</literal>", rather than
834 "<literal>Prelude.fromInteger (368::Integer)</literal>".
837 <listitem><para>Fractional literals are handed in just the same way,
838 except that the translation is
839 <literal>fromRational (3.68::Rational)</literal>.
842 <listitem><para>The equality test in an overloaded numeric pattern
843 uses whatever <literal>(==)</literal> is in scope.
846 <listitem><para>The subtraction operation, and the
847 greater-than-or-equal test, in <literal>n+k</literal> patterns
848 use whatever <literal>(-)</literal> and <literal>(>=)</literal> are in scope.
852 <para>Negation (e.g. "<literal>- (f x)</literal>")
853 means "<literal>negate (f x)</literal>", both in numeric
854 patterns, and expressions.
858 <para>"Do" notation is translated using whatever
859 functions <literal>(>>=)</literal>,
860 <literal>(>>)</literal>, and <literal>fail</literal>,
861 are in scope (not the Prelude
862 versions). List comprehensions, mdo (<xref linkend="mdo-notation"/>), and parallel array
863 comprehensions, are unaffected. </para></listitem>
867 notation (see <xref linkend="arrow-notation"/>)
868 uses whatever <literal>arr</literal>,
869 <literal>(>>>)</literal>, <literal>first</literal>,
870 <literal>app</literal>, <literal>(|||)</literal> and
871 <literal>loop</literal> functions are in scope. But unlike the
872 other constructs, the types of these functions must match the
873 Prelude types very closely. Details are in flux; if you want
877 In all cases (apart from arrow notation), the static semantics should be that of the desugared form,
878 even if that is a little unexpected. For emample, the
879 static semantics of the literal <literal>368</literal>
880 is exactly that of <literal>fromInteger (368::Integer)</literal>; it's fine for
881 <literal>fromInteger</literal> to have any of the types:
883 fromInteger :: Integer -> Integer
884 fromInteger :: forall a. Foo a => Integer -> a
885 fromInteger :: Num a => a -> Integer
886 fromInteger :: Integer -> Bool -> Bool
890 <para>Be warned: this is an experimental facility, with
891 fewer checks than usual. Use <literal>-dcore-lint</literal>
892 to typecheck the desugared program. If Core Lint is happy
893 you should be all right.</para>
899 <!-- TYPE SYSTEM EXTENSIONS -->
900 <sect1 id="type-extensions">
901 <title>Type system extensions</title>
905 <title>Data types and type synonyms</title>
907 <sect3 id="nullary-types">
908 <title>Data types with no constructors</title>
910 <para>With the <option>-fglasgow-exts</option> flag, GHC lets you declare
911 a data type with no constructors. For example:</para>
915 data T a -- T :: * -> *
918 <para>Syntactically, the declaration lacks the "= constrs" part. The
919 type can be parameterised over types of any kind, but if the kind is
920 not <literal>*</literal> then an explicit kind annotation must be used
921 (see <xref linkend="sec-kinding"/>).</para>
923 <para>Such data types have only one value, namely bottom.
924 Nevertheless, they can be useful when defining "phantom types".</para>
927 <sect3 id="infix-tycons">
928 <title>Infix type constructors, classes, and type variables</title>
931 GHC allows type constructors, classes, and type variables to be operators, and
932 to be written infix, very much like expressions. More specifically:
935 A type constructor or class can be an operator, beginning with a colon; e.g. <literal>:*:</literal>.
936 The lexical syntax is the same as that for data constructors.
939 Data type and type-synonym declarations can be written infix, parenthesised
940 if you want further arguments. E.g.
942 data a :*: b = Foo a b
943 type a :+: b = Either a b
944 class a :=: b where ...
946 data (a :**: b) x = Baz a b x
947 type (a :++: b) y = Either (a,b) y
951 Types, and class constraints, can be written infix. For example
954 f :: (a :=: b) => a -> b
958 A type variable can be an (unqualified) operator e.g. <literal>+</literal>.
959 The lexical syntax is the same as that for variable operators, excluding "(.)",
960 "(!)", and "(*)". In a binding position, the operator must be
961 parenthesised. For example:
963 type T (+) = Int + Int
968 => (a -> b -> c) -> (e ~> a) -> (e ~> b) -> (e ~> c)
974 as for expressions, both for type constructors and type variables; e.g. <literal>Int `Either` Bool</literal>, or
975 <literal>Int `a` Bool</literal>. Similarly, parentheses work the same; e.g. <literal>(:*:) Int Bool</literal>.
978 Fixities may be declared for type constructors, or classes, just as for data constructors. However,
979 one cannot distinguish between the two in a fixity declaration; a fixity declaration
980 sets the fixity for a data constructor and the corresponding type constructor. For example:
984 sets the fixity for both type constructor <literal>T</literal> and data constructor <literal>T</literal>,
985 and similarly for <literal>:*:</literal>.
986 <literal>Int `a` Bool</literal>.
989 Function arrow is <literal>infixr</literal> with fixity 0. (This might change; I'm not sure what it should be.)
996 <sect3 id="type-synonyms">
997 <title>Liberalised type synonyms</title>
1000 Type synonyms are like macros at the type level, and
1001 GHC does validity checking on types <emphasis>only after expanding type synonyms</emphasis>.
1002 That means that GHC can be very much more liberal about type synonyms than Haskell 98:
1004 <listitem> <para>You can write a <literal>forall</literal> (including overloading)
1005 in a type synonym, thus:
1007 type Discard a = forall b. Show b => a -> b -> (a, String)
1012 g :: Discard Int -> (Int,Bool) -- A rank-2 type
1019 You can write an unboxed tuple in a type synonym:
1021 type Pr = (# Int, Int #)
1029 You can apply a type synonym to a forall type:
1031 type Foo a = a -> a -> Bool
1033 f :: Foo (forall b. b->b)
1035 After expanding the synonym, <literal>f</literal> has the legal (in GHC) type:
1037 f :: (forall b. b->b) -> (forall b. b->b) -> Bool
1042 You can apply a type synonym to a partially applied type synonym:
1044 type Generic i o = forall x. i x -> o x
1047 foo :: Generic Id []
1049 After expanding the synonym, <literal>foo</literal> has the legal (in GHC) type:
1051 foo :: forall x. x -> [x]
1059 GHC currently does kind checking before expanding synonyms (though even that
1063 After expanding type synonyms, GHC does validity checking on types, looking for
1064 the following mal-formedness which isn't detected simply by kind checking:
1067 Type constructor applied to a type involving for-alls.
1070 Unboxed tuple on left of an arrow.
1073 Partially-applied type synonym.
1077 this will be rejected:
1079 type Pr = (# Int, Int #)
1084 because GHC does not allow unboxed tuples on the left of a function arrow.
1089 <sect3 id="existential-quantification">
1090 <title>Existentially quantified data constructors
1094 The idea of using existential quantification in data type declarations
1095 was suggested by Perry, and implemented in Hope+ (Nigel Perry, <emphasis>The Implementation
1096 of Practical Functional Programming Languages</emphasis>, PhD Thesis, University of
1097 London, 1991). It was later formalised by Laufer and Odersky
1098 (<emphasis>Polymorphic type inference and abstract data types</emphasis>,
1099 TOPLAS, 16(5), pp1411-1430, 1994).
1100 It's been in Lennart
1101 Augustsson's <command>hbc</command> Haskell compiler for several years, and
1102 proved very useful. Here's the idea. Consider the declaration:
1108 data Foo = forall a. MkFoo a (a -> Bool)
1115 The data type <literal>Foo</literal> has two constructors with types:
1121 MkFoo :: forall a. a -> (a -> Bool) -> Foo
1128 Notice that the type variable <literal>a</literal> in the type of <function>MkFoo</function>
1129 does not appear in the data type itself, which is plain <literal>Foo</literal>.
1130 For example, the following expression is fine:
1136 [MkFoo 3 even, MkFoo 'c' isUpper] :: [Foo]
1142 Here, <literal>(MkFoo 3 even)</literal> packages an integer with a function
1143 <function>even</function> that maps an integer to <literal>Bool</literal>; and <function>MkFoo 'c'
1144 isUpper</function> packages a character with a compatible function. These
1145 two things are each of type <literal>Foo</literal> and can be put in a list.
1149 What can we do with a value of type <literal>Foo</literal>?. In particular,
1150 what happens when we pattern-match on <function>MkFoo</function>?
1156 f (MkFoo val fn) = ???
1162 Since all we know about <literal>val</literal> and <function>fn</function> is that they
1163 are compatible, the only (useful) thing we can do with them is to
1164 apply <function>fn</function> to <literal>val</literal> to get a boolean. For example:
1171 f (MkFoo val fn) = fn val
1177 What this allows us to do is to package heterogenous values
1178 together with a bunch of functions that manipulate them, and then treat
1179 that collection of packages in a uniform manner. You can express
1180 quite a bit of object-oriented-like programming this way.
1183 <sect4 id="existential">
1184 <title>Why existential?
1188 What has this to do with <emphasis>existential</emphasis> quantification?
1189 Simply that <function>MkFoo</function> has the (nearly) isomorphic type
1195 MkFoo :: (exists a . (a, a -> Bool)) -> Foo
1201 But Haskell programmers can safely think of the ordinary
1202 <emphasis>universally</emphasis> quantified type given above, thereby avoiding
1203 adding a new existential quantification construct.
1209 <title>Type classes</title>
1212 An easy extension is to allow
1213 arbitrary contexts before the constructor. For example:
1219 data Baz = forall a. Eq a => Baz1 a a
1220 | forall b. Show b => Baz2 b (b -> b)
1226 The two constructors have the types you'd expect:
1232 Baz1 :: forall a. Eq a => a -> a -> Baz
1233 Baz2 :: forall b. Show b => b -> (b -> b) -> Baz
1239 But when pattern matching on <function>Baz1</function> the matched values can be compared
1240 for equality, and when pattern matching on <function>Baz2</function> the first matched
1241 value can be converted to a string (as well as applying the function to it).
1242 So this program is legal:
1249 f (Baz1 p q) | p == q = "Yes"
1251 f (Baz2 v fn) = show (fn v)
1257 Operationally, in a dictionary-passing implementation, the
1258 constructors <function>Baz1</function> and <function>Baz2</function> must store the
1259 dictionaries for <literal>Eq</literal> and <literal>Show</literal> respectively, and
1260 extract it on pattern matching.
1264 Notice the way that the syntax fits smoothly with that used for
1265 universal quantification earlier.
1271 <title>Record Constructors</title>
1274 GHC allows existentials to be used with records syntax as well. For example:
1277 data Counter a = forall self. NewCounter
1279 , _inc :: self -> self
1280 , _display :: self -> IO ()
1284 Here <literal>tag</literal> is a public field, with a well-typed selector
1285 function <literal>tag :: Counter a -> a</literal>. The <literal>self</literal>
1286 type is hidden from the outside; any attempt to apply <literal>_this</literal>,
1287 <literal>_inc</literal> or <literal>_output</literal> as functions will raise a
1288 compile-time error. In other words, <emphasis>GHC defines a record selector function
1289 only for fields whose type does not mention the existentially-quantified variables</emphasis>.
1290 (This example used an underscore in the fields for which record selectors
1291 will not be defined, but that is only programming style; GHC ignores them.)
1295 To make use of these hidden fields, we need to create some helper functions:
1298 inc :: Counter a -> Counter a
1299 inc (NewCounter x i d t) = NewCounter
1300 { _this = i x, _inc = i, _display = d, tag = t }
1302 display :: Counter a -> IO ()
1303 display NewCounter{ _this = x, _display = d } = d x
1306 Now we can define counters with different underlying implementations:
1309 counterA :: Counter String
1310 counterA = NewCounter
1311 { _this = 0, _inc = (1+), _display = print, tag = "A" }
1313 counterB :: Counter String
1314 counterB = NewCounter
1315 { _this = "", _inc = ('#':), _display = putStrLn, tag = "B" }
1318 display (inc counterA) -- prints "1"
1319 display (inc (inc counterB)) -- prints "##"
1322 In GADT declarations (see <xref linkend="gadt"/>), the explicit
1323 <literal>forall</literal> may be omitted. For example, we can express
1324 the same <literal>Counter a</literal> using GADT:
1327 data Counter a where
1328 NewCounter { _this :: self
1329 , _inc :: self -> self
1330 , _display :: self -> IO ()
1336 At the moment, record update syntax is only supported for Haskell 98 data types,
1337 so the following function does <emphasis>not</emphasis> work:
1340 -- This is invalid; use explicit NewCounter instead for now
1341 setTag :: Counter a -> a -> Counter a
1342 setTag obj t = obj{ tag = t }
1351 <title>Restrictions</title>
1354 There are several restrictions on the ways in which existentially-quantified
1355 constructors can be use.
1364 When pattern matching, each pattern match introduces a new,
1365 distinct, type for each existential type variable. These types cannot
1366 be unified with any other type, nor can they escape from the scope of
1367 the pattern match. For example, these fragments are incorrect:
1375 Here, the type bound by <function>MkFoo</function> "escapes", because <literal>a</literal>
1376 is the result of <function>f1</function>. One way to see why this is wrong is to
1377 ask what type <function>f1</function> has:
1381 f1 :: Foo -> a -- Weird!
1385 What is this "<literal>a</literal>" in the result type? Clearly we don't mean
1390 f1 :: forall a. Foo -> a -- Wrong!
1394 The original program is just plain wrong. Here's another sort of error
1398 f2 (Baz1 a b) (Baz1 p q) = a==q
1402 It's ok to say <literal>a==b</literal> or <literal>p==q</literal>, but
1403 <literal>a==q</literal> is wrong because it equates the two distinct types arising
1404 from the two <function>Baz1</function> constructors.
1412 You can't pattern-match on an existentially quantified
1413 constructor in a <literal>let</literal> or <literal>where</literal> group of
1414 bindings. So this is illegal:
1418 f3 x = a==b where { Baz1 a b = x }
1421 Instead, use a <literal>case</literal> expression:
1424 f3 x = case x of Baz1 a b -> a==b
1427 In general, you can only pattern-match
1428 on an existentially-quantified constructor in a <literal>case</literal> expression or
1429 in the patterns of a function definition.
1431 The reason for this restriction is really an implementation one.
1432 Type-checking binding groups is already a nightmare without
1433 existentials complicating the picture. Also an existential pattern
1434 binding at the top level of a module doesn't make sense, because it's
1435 not clear how to prevent the existentially-quantified type "escaping".
1436 So for now, there's a simple-to-state restriction. We'll see how
1444 You can't use existential quantification for <literal>newtype</literal>
1445 declarations. So this is illegal:
1449 newtype T = forall a. Ord a => MkT a
1453 Reason: a value of type <literal>T</literal> must be represented as a
1454 pair of a dictionary for <literal>Ord t</literal> and a value of type
1455 <literal>t</literal>. That contradicts the idea that
1456 <literal>newtype</literal> should have no concrete representation.
1457 You can get just the same efficiency and effect by using
1458 <literal>data</literal> instead of <literal>newtype</literal>. If
1459 there is no overloading involved, then there is more of a case for
1460 allowing an existentially-quantified <literal>newtype</literal>,
1461 because the <literal>data</literal> version does carry an
1462 implementation cost, but single-field existentially quantified
1463 constructors aren't much use. So the simple restriction (no
1464 existential stuff on <literal>newtype</literal>) stands, unless there
1465 are convincing reasons to change it.
1473 You can't use <literal>deriving</literal> to define instances of a
1474 data type with existentially quantified data constructors.
1476 Reason: in most cases it would not make sense. For example:#
1479 data T = forall a. MkT [a] deriving( Eq )
1482 To derive <literal>Eq</literal> in the standard way we would need to have equality
1483 between the single component of two <function>MkT</function> constructors:
1487 (MkT a) == (MkT b) = ???
1490 But <varname>a</varname> and <varname>b</varname> have distinct types, and so can't be compared.
1491 It's just about possible to imagine examples in which the derived instance
1492 would make sense, but it seems altogether simpler simply to prohibit such
1493 declarations. Define your own instances!
1508 <sect2 id="multi-param-type-classes">
1509 <title>Class declarations</title>
1512 This section, and the next one, documents GHC's type-class extensions.
1513 There's lots of background in the paper <ulink
1514 url="http://research.microsoft.com/~simonpj/Papers/type-class-design-space" >Type
1515 classes: exploring the design space</ulink > (Simon Peyton Jones, Mark
1516 Jones, Erik Meijer).
1519 All the extensions are enabled by the <option>-fglasgow-exts</option> flag.
1523 <title>Multi-parameter type classes</title>
1525 Multi-parameter type classes are permitted. For example:
1529 class Collection c a where
1530 union :: c a -> c a -> c a
1538 <title>The superclasses of a class declaration</title>
1541 There are no restrictions on the context in a class declaration
1542 (which introduces superclasses), except that the class hierarchy must
1543 be acyclic. So these class declarations are OK:
1547 class Functor (m k) => FiniteMap m k where
1550 class (Monad m, Monad (t m)) => Transform t m where
1551 lift :: m a -> (t m) a
1557 As in Haskell 98, The class hierarchy must be acyclic. However, the definition
1558 of "acyclic" involves only the superclass relationships. For example,
1564 op :: D b => a -> b -> b
1567 class C a => D a where { ... }
1571 Here, <literal>C</literal> is a superclass of <literal>D</literal>, but it's OK for a
1572 class operation <literal>op</literal> of <literal>C</literal> to mention <literal>D</literal>. (It
1573 would not be OK for <literal>D</literal> to be a superclass of <literal>C</literal>.)
1580 <sect3 id="class-method-types">
1581 <title>Class method types</title>
1584 Haskell 98 prohibits class method types to mention constraints on the
1585 class type variable, thus:
1588 fromList :: [a] -> s a
1589 elem :: Eq a => a -> s a -> Bool
1591 The type of <literal>elem</literal> is illegal in Haskell 98, because it
1592 contains the constraint <literal>Eq a</literal>, constrains only the
1593 class type variable (in this case <literal>a</literal>).
1594 GHC lifts this restriction.
1601 <sect2 id="functional-dependencies">
1602 <title>Functional dependencies
1605 <para> Functional dependencies are implemented as described by Mark Jones
1606 in “<ulink url="http://www.cse.ogi.edu/~mpj/pubs/fundeps.html">Type Classes with Functional Dependencies</ulink>”, Mark P. Jones,
1607 In Proceedings of the 9th European Symposium on Programming,
1608 ESOP 2000, Berlin, Germany, March 2000, Springer-Verlag LNCS 1782,
1612 Functional dependencies are introduced by a vertical bar in the syntax of a
1613 class declaration; e.g.
1615 class (Monad m) => MonadState s m | m -> s where ...
1617 class Foo a b c | a b -> c where ...
1619 There should be more documentation, but there isn't (yet). Yell if you need it.
1622 <sect3><title>Rules for functional dependencies </title>
1624 In a class declaration, all of the class type variables must be reachable (in the sense
1625 mentioned in <xref linkend="type-restrictions"/>)
1626 from the free variables of each method type.
1630 class Coll s a where
1632 insert :: s -> a -> s
1635 is not OK, because the type of <literal>empty</literal> doesn't mention
1636 <literal>a</literal>. Functional dependencies can make the type variable
1639 class Coll s a | s -> a where
1641 insert :: s -> a -> s
1644 Alternatively <literal>Coll</literal> might be rewritten
1647 class Coll s a where
1649 insert :: s a -> a -> s a
1653 which makes the connection between the type of a collection of
1654 <literal>a</literal>'s (namely <literal>(s a)</literal>) and the element type <literal>a</literal>.
1655 Occasionally this really doesn't work, in which case you can split the
1663 class CollE s => Coll s a where
1664 insert :: s -> a -> s
1671 <title>Background on functional dependencies</title>
1673 <para>The following description of the motivation and use of functional dependencies is taken
1674 from the Hugs user manual, reproduced here (with minor changes) by kind
1675 permission of Mark Jones.
1678 Consider the following class, intended as part of a
1679 library for collection types:
1681 class Collects e ce where
1683 insert :: e -> ce -> ce
1684 member :: e -> ce -> Bool
1686 The type variable e used here represents the element type, while ce is the type
1687 of the container itself. Within this framework, we might want to define
1688 instances of this class for lists or characteristic functions (both of which
1689 can be used to represent collections of any equality type), bit sets (which can
1690 be used to represent collections of characters), or hash tables (which can be
1691 used to represent any collection whose elements have a hash function). Omitting
1692 standard implementation details, this would lead to the following declarations:
1694 instance Eq e => Collects e [e] where ...
1695 instance Eq e => Collects e (e -> Bool) where ...
1696 instance Collects Char BitSet where ...
1697 instance (Hashable e, Collects a ce)
1698 => Collects e (Array Int ce) where ...
1700 All this looks quite promising; we have a class and a range of interesting
1701 implementations. Unfortunately, there are some serious problems with the class
1702 declaration. First, the empty function has an ambiguous type:
1704 empty :: Collects e ce => ce
1706 By "ambiguous" we mean that there is a type variable e that appears on the left
1707 of the <literal>=></literal> symbol, but not on the right. The problem with
1708 this is that, according to the theoretical foundations of Haskell overloading,
1709 we cannot guarantee a well-defined semantics for any term with an ambiguous
1713 We can sidestep this specific problem by removing the empty member from the
1714 class declaration. However, although the remaining members, insert and member,
1715 do not have ambiguous types, we still run into problems when we try to use
1716 them. For example, consider the following two functions:
1718 f x y = insert x . insert y
1721 for which GHC infers the following types:
1723 f :: (Collects a c, Collects b c) => a -> b -> c -> c
1724 g :: (Collects Bool c, Collects Char c) => c -> c
1726 Notice that the type for f allows the two parameters x and y to be assigned
1727 different types, even though it attempts to insert each of the two values, one
1728 after the other, into the same collection. If we're trying to model collections
1729 that contain only one type of value, then this is clearly an inaccurate
1730 type. Worse still, the definition for g is accepted, without causing a type
1731 error. As a result, the error in this code will not be flagged at the point
1732 where it appears. Instead, it will show up only when we try to use g, which
1733 might even be in a different module.
1736 <sect4><title>An attempt to use constructor classes</title>
1739 Faced with the problems described above, some Haskell programmers might be
1740 tempted to use something like the following version of the class declaration:
1742 class Collects e c where
1744 insert :: e -> c e -> c e
1745 member :: e -> c e -> Bool
1747 The key difference here is that we abstract over the type constructor c that is
1748 used to form the collection type c e, and not over that collection type itself,
1749 represented by ce in the original class declaration. This avoids the immediate
1750 problems that we mentioned above: empty has type <literal>Collects e c => c
1751 e</literal>, which is not ambiguous.
1754 The function f from the previous section has a more accurate type:
1756 f :: (Collects e c) => e -> e -> c e -> c e
1758 The function g from the previous section is now rejected with a type error as
1759 we would hope because the type of f does not allow the two arguments to have
1761 This, then, is an example of a multiple parameter class that does actually work
1762 quite well in practice, without ambiguity problems.
1763 There is, however, a catch. This version of the Collects class is nowhere near
1764 as general as the original class seemed to be: only one of the four instances
1765 for <literal>Collects</literal>
1766 given above can be used with this version of Collects because only one of
1767 them---the instance for lists---has a collection type that can be written in
1768 the form c e, for some type constructor c, and element type e.
1772 <sect4><title>Adding functional dependencies</title>
1775 To get a more useful version of the Collects class, Hugs provides a mechanism
1776 that allows programmers to specify dependencies between the parameters of a
1777 multiple parameter class (For readers with an interest in theoretical
1778 foundations and previous work: The use of dependency information can be seen
1779 both as a generalization of the proposal for `parametric type classes' that was
1780 put forward by Chen, Hudak, and Odersky, or as a special case of Mark Jones's
1781 later framework for "improvement" of qualified types. The
1782 underlying ideas are also discussed in a more theoretical and abstract setting
1783 in a manuscript [implparam], where they are identified as one point in a
1784 general design space for systems of implicit parameterization.).
1786 To start with an abstract example, consider a declaration such as:
1788 class C a b where ...
1790 which tells us simply that C can be thought of as a binary relation on types
1791 (or type constructors, depending on the kinds of a and b). Extra clauses can be
1792 included in the definition of classes to add information about dependencies
1793 between parameters, as in the following examples:
1795 class D a b | a -> b where ...
1796 class E a b | a -> b, b -> a where ...
1798 The notation <literal>a -> b</literal> used here between the | and where
1799 symbols --- not to be
1800 confused with a function type --- indicates that the a parameter uniquely
1801 determines the b parameter, and might be read as "a determines b." Thus D is
1802 not just a relation, but actually a (partial) function. Similarly, from the two
1803 dependencies that are included in the definition of E, we can see that E
1804 represents a (partial) one-one mapping between types.
1807 More generally, dependencies take the form <literal>x1 ... xn -> y1 ... ym</literal>,
1808 where x1, ..., xn, and y1, ..., yn are type variables with n>0 and
1809 m>=0, meaning that the y parameters are uniquely determined by the x
1810 parameters. Spaces can be used as separators if more than one variable appears
1811 on any single side of a dependency, as in <literal>t -> a b</literal>. Note that a class may be
1812 annotated with multiple dependencies using commas as separators, as in the
1813 definition of E above. Some dependencies that we can write in this notation are
1814 redundant, and will be rejected because they don't serve any useful
1815 purpose, and may instead indicate an error in the program. Examples of
1816 dependencies like this include <literal>a -> a </literal>,
1817 <literal>a -> a a </literal>,
1818 <literal>a -> </literal>, etc. There can also be
1819 some redundancy if multiple dependencies are given, as in
1820 <literal>a->b</literal>,
1821 <literal>b->c </literal>, <literal>a->c </literal>, and
1822 in which some subset implies the remaining dependencies. Examples like this are
1823 not treated as errors. Note that dependencies appear only in class
1824 declarations, and not in any other part of the language. In particular, the
1825 syntax for instance declarations, class constraints, and types is completely
1829 By including dependencies in a class declaration, we provide a mechanism for
1830 the programmer to specify each multiple parameter class more precisely. The
1831 compiler, on the other hand, is responsible for ensuring that the set of
1832 instances that are in scope at any given point in the program is consistent
1833 with any declared dependencies. For example, the following pair of instance
1834 declarations cannot appear together in the same scope because they violate the
1835 dependency for D, even though either one on its own would be acceptable:
1837 instance D Bool Int where ...
1838 instance D Bool Char where ...
1840 Note also that the following declaration is not allowed, even by itself:
1842 instance D [a] b where ...
1844 The problem here is that this instance would allow one particular choice of [a]
1845 to be associated with more than one choice for b, which contradicts the
1846 dependency specified in the definition of D. More generally, this means that,
1847 in any instance of the form:
1849 instance D t s where ...
1851 for some particular types t and s, the only variables that can appear in s are
1852 the ones that appear in t, and hence, if the type t is known, then s will be
1853 uniquely determined.
1856 The benefit of including dependency information is that it allows us to define
1857 more general multiple parameter classes, without ambiguity problems, and with
1858 the benefit of more accurate types. To illustrate this, we return to the
1859 collection class example, and annotate the original definition of <literal>Collects</literal>
1860 with a simple dependency:
1862 class Collects e ce | ce -> e where
1864 insert :: e -> ce -> ce
1865 member :: e -> ce -> Bool
1867 The dependency <literal>ce -> e</literal> here specifies that the type e of elements is uniquely
1868 determined by the type of the collection ce. Note that both parameters of
1869 Collects are of kind *; there are no constructor classes here. Note too that
1870 all of the instances of Collects that we gave earlier can be used
1871 together with this new definition.
1874 What about the ambiguity problems that we encountered with the original
1875 definition? The empty function still has type Collects e ce => ce, but it is no
1876 longer necessary to regard that as an ambiguous type: Although the variable e
1877 does not appear on the right of the => symbol, the dependency for class
1878 Collects tells us that it is uniquely determined by ce, which does appear on
1879 the right of the => symbol. Hence the context in which empty is used can still
1880 give enough information to determine types for both ce and e, without
1881 ambiguity. More generally, we need only regard a type as ambiguous if it
1882 contains a variable on the left of the => that is not uniquely determined
1883 (either directly or indirectly) by the variables on the right.
1886 Dependencies also help to produce more accurate types for user defined
1887 functions, and hence to provide earlier detection of errors, and less cluttered
1888 types for programmers to work with. Recall the previous definition for a
1891 f x y = insert x y = insert x . insert y
1893 for which we originally obtained a type:
1895 f :: (Collects a c, Collects b c) => a -> b -> c -> c
1897 Given the dependency information that we have for Collects, however, we can
1898 deduce that a and b must be equal because they both appear as the second
1899 parameter in a Collects constraint with the same first parameter c. Hence we
1900 can infer a shorter and more accurate type for f:
1902 f :: (Collects a c) => a -> a -> c -> c
1904 In a similar way, the earlier definition of g will now be flagged as a type error.
1907 Although we have given only a few examples here, it should be clear that the
1908 addition of dependency information can help to make multiple parameter classes
1909 more useful in practice, avoiding ambiguity problems, and allowing more general
1910 sets of instance declarations.
1916 <sect2 id="instance-decls">
1917 <title>Instance declarations</title>
1919 <sect3 id="instance-rules">
1920 <title>Relaxed rules for instance declarations</title>
1922 <para>An instance declaration has the form
1924 instance ( <replaceable>assertion</replaceable><subscript>1</subscript>, ..., <replaceable>assertion</replaceable><subscript>n</subscript>) => <replaceable>class</replaceable> <replaceable>type</replaceable><subscript>1</subscript> ... <replaceable>type</replaceable><subscript>m</subscript> where ...
1926 The part before the "<literal>=></literal>" is the
1927 <emphasis>context</emphasis>, while the part after the
1928 "<literal>=></literal>" is the <emphasis>head</emphasis> of the instance declaration.
1932 In Haskell 98 the head of an instance declaration
1933 must be of the form <literal>C (T a1 ... an)</literal>, where
1934 <literal>C</literal> is the class, <literal>T</literal> is a type constructor,
1935 and the <literal>a1 ... an</literal> are distinct type variables.
1936 Furthermore, the assertions in the context of the instance declaration be of
1937 the form <literal>C a</literal> where <literal>a</literal> is a type variable.
1940 The <option>-fglasgow-exts</option> flag loosens these restrictions
1941 considerably. Firstly, multi-parameter type classes are permitted. Secondly,
1942 the context and head of the instance declaration can each consist of arbitrary
1943 (well-kinded) assertions <literal>(C t1 ... tn)</literal> subject only to the
1947 For each assertion in the context:
1949 <listitem><para>No type variable has more occurrences in the assertion than in the head</para></listitem>
1950 <listitem><para>The assertion has fewer constructors and variables (taken together
1951 and counting repetitions) than the head</para></listitem>
1955 <listitem><para>The coverage condition. For each functional dependency,
1956 <replaceable>tvs</replaceable><subscript>left</subscript> <literal>-></literal>
1957 <replaceable>tvs</replaceable><subscript>right</subscript>, of the class,
1958 every type variable in
1959 S(<replaceable>tvs</replaceable><subscript>right</subscript>) must appear in
1960 S(<replaceable>tvs</replaceable><subscript>left</subscript>), where S is the
1961 substitution mapping each type variable in the class declaration to the
1962 corresponding type in the instance declaration.
1965 These restrictions ensure that context reduction terminates: each reduction
1966 step makes the problem smaller
1967 constructor. For example, the following would make the type checker
1968 loop if it wasn't excluded:
1970 instance C a => C a where ...
1972 For example, these are OK:
1974 instance C Int [a] -- Multiple parameters
1975 instance Eq (S [a]) -- Structured type in head
1977 -- Repeated type variable in head
1978 instance C4 a a => C4 [a] [a]
1979 instance Stateful (ST s) (MutVar s)
1981 -- Head can consist of type variables only
1983 instance (Eq a, Show b) => C2 a b
1985 -- Non-type variables in context
1986 instance Show (s a) => Show (Sized s a)
1987 instance C2 Int a => C3 Bool [a]
1988 instance C2 Int a => C3 [a] b
1992 instance C a => C a where ...
1993 -- Context assertion no smaller than head
1994 instance C b b => Foo [b] where ...
1995 -- (C b b) has more more occurrences of b than the head
2000 A couple of useful idioms are these. First,
2001 if one allows overlapping instance declarations then it's quite
2002 convenient to have a "default instance" declaration that applies if
2003 something more specific does not:
2009 Second, sometimes you might want to use the following to get the
2010 effect of a "class synonym":
2014 class (C1 a, C2 a, C3 a) => C a where { }
2016 instance (C1 a, C2 a, C3 a) => C a where { }
2018 This allows you to write shorter signatures:
2025 f :: (C1 a, C2 a, C3 a) => ...
2030 <sect3 id="undecidable-instances">
2031 <title>Undecidable instances</title>
2034 Sometimes even the rules of <xref linkend="instance-rules"/> are too onerous.
2035 For example, with functional dependencies (<xref
2036 linkend="functional-dependencies"/>)
2037 it is tempting to introduce type variables in the context that do not appear in
2038 the head, something that is excluded by the normal rules. For example:
2040 class HasConverter a b | a -> b where
2043 data Foo a = MkFoo a
2045 instance (HasConverter a b,Show b) => Show (Foo a) where
2046 show (MkFoo value) = show (convert value)
2048 This is dangerous territory, however. Here, for example, is a program that would make the
2053 instance F [a] [[a]]
2054 instance (D c, F a c) => D [a] -- 'c' is not mentioned in the head
2056 Similarly, it can be tempting to lift the coverage condition:
2058 class Mul a b c | a b -> c where
2059 (.*.) :: a -> b -> c
2061 instance Mul Int Int Int where (.*.) = (*)
2062 instance Mul Int Float Float where x .*. y = fromIntegral x * y
2063 instance Mul a b c => Mul a [b] [c] where x .*. v = map (x.*.) v
2065 The third instance declaration does not obey the coverage condition;
2066 and indeed the (somewhat strange) definition:
2068 f = \ b x y -> if b then x .*. [y] else y
2070 makes instance inference go into a loop, because it requires the constraint
2071 <literal>(Mul a [b] b)</literal>.
2074 Nevertheless, GHC allows you to experiment with more liberal rules. If you use
2075 the experimental flag <option>-fallow-undecidable-instances</option>
2076 <indexterm><primary>-fallow-undecidable-instances
2077 option</primary></indexterm>, you can use arbitrary
2078 types in both an instance context and instance head. Termination is ensured by having a
2079 fixed-depth recursion stack. If you exceed the stack depth you get a
2080 sort of backtrace, and the opportunity to increase the stack depth
2081 with <option>-fcontext-stack</option><emphasis>N</emphasis>.
2087 <sect3 id="instance-overlap">
2088 <title>Overlapping instances</title>
2090 In general, <emphasis>GHC requires that that it be unambiguous which instance
2092 should be used to resolve a type-class constraint</emphasis>. This behaviour
2093 can be modified by two flags: <option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option>
2094 <indexterm><primary>-fallow-overlapping-instances
2095 </primary></indexterm>
2096 and <option>-fallow-incoherent-instances</option>
2097 <indexterm><primary>-fallow-incoherent-instances
2098 </primary></indexterm>, as this section discusses.</para>
2100 When GHC tries to resolve, say, the constraint <literal>C Int Bool</literal>,
2101 it tries to match every instance declaration against the
2103 by instantiating the head of the instance declaration. For example, consider
2106 instance context1 => C Int a where ... -- (A)
2107 instance context2 => C a Bool where ... -- (B)
2108 instance context3 => C Int [a] where ... -- (C)
2109 instance context4 => C Int [Int] where ... -- (D)
2111 The instances (A) and (B) match the constraint <literal>C Int Bool</literal>,
2112 but (C) and (D) do not. When matching, GHC takes
2113 no account of the context of the instance declaration
2114 (<literal>context1</literal> etc).
2115 GHC's default behaviour is that <emphasis>exactly one instance must match the
2116 constraint it is trying to resolve</emphasis>.
2117 It is fine for there to be a <emphasis>potential</emphasis> of overlap (by
2118 including both declarations (A) and (B), say); an error is only reported if a
2119 particular constraint matches more than one.
2123 The <option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option> flag instructs GHC to allow
2124 more than one instance to match, provided there is a most specific one. For
2125 example, the constraint <literal>C Int [Int]</literal> matches instances (A),
2126 (C) and (D), but the last is more specific, and hence is chosen. If there is no
2127 most-specific match, the program is rejected.
2130 However, GHC is conservative about committing to an overlapping instance. For example:
2135 Suppose that from the RHS of <literal>f</literal> we get the constraint
2136 <literal>C Int [b]</literal>. But
2137 GHC does not commit to instance (C), because in a particular
2138 call of <literal>f</literal>, <literal>b</literal> might be instantiate
2139 to <literal>Int</literal>, in which case instance (D) would be more specific still.
2140 So GHC rejects the program. If you add the flag <option>-fallow-incoherent-instances</option>,
2141 GHC will instead pick (C), without complaining about
2142 the problem of subsequent instantiations.
2145 The willingness to be overlapped or incoherent is a property of
2146 the <emphasis>instance declaration</emphasis> itself, controlled by the
2147 presence or otherwise of the <option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option>
2148 and <option>-fallow-incoherent-instances</option> flags when that mdodule is
2149 being defined. Neither flag is required in a module that imports and uses the
2150 instance declaration. Specifically, during the lookup process:
2153 An instance declaration is ignored during the lookup process if (a) a more specific
2154 match is found, and (b) the instance declaration was compiled with
2155 <option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option>. The flag setting for the
2156 more-specific instance does not matter.
2159 Suppose an instance declaration does not matche the constraint being looked up, but
2160 does unify with it, so that it might match when the constraint is further
2161 instantiated. Usually GHC will regard this as a reason for not committing to
2162 some other constraint. But if the instance declaration was compiled with
2163 <option>-fallow-incoherent-instances</option>, GHC will skip the "does-it-unify?"
2164 check for that declaration.
2167 All this makes it possible for a library author to design a library that relies on
2168 overlapping instances without the library client having to know.
2170 <para>The <option>-fallow-incoherent-instances</option> flag implies the
2171 <option>-fallow-overlapping-instances</option> flag, but not vice versa.
2176 <title>Type synonyms in the instance head</title>
2179 <emphasis>Unlike Haskell 98, instance heads may use type
2180 synonyms</emphasis>. (The instance "head" is the bit after the "=>" in an instance decl.)
2181 As always, using a type synonym is just shorthand for
2182 writing the RHS of the type synonym definition. For example:
2186 type Point = (Int,Int)
2187 instance C Point where ...
2188 instance C [Point] where ...
2192 is legal. However, if you added
2196 instance C (Int,Int) where ...
2200 as well, then the compiler will complain about the overlapping
2201 (actually, identical) instance declarations. As always, type synonyms
2202 must be fully applied. You cannot, for example, write:
2207 instance Monad P where ...
2211 This design decision is independent of all the others, and easily
2212 reversed, but it makes sense to me.
2220 <sect2 id="type-restrictions">
2221 <title>Type signatures</title>
2223 <sect3><title>The context of a type signature</title>
2225 Unlike Haskell 98, constraints in types do <emphasis>not</emphasis> have to be of
2226 the form <emphasis>(class type-variable)</emphasis> or
2227 <emphasis>(class (type-variable type-variable ...))</emphasis>. Thus,
2228 these type signatures are perfectly OK
2231 g :: Ord (T a ()) => ...
2235 GHC imposes the following restrictions on the constraints in a type signature.
2239 forall tv1..tvn (c1, ...,cn) => type
2242 (Here, we write the "foralls" explicitly, although the Haskell source
2243 language omits them; in Haskell 98, all the free type variables of an
2244 explicit source-language type signature are universally quantified,
2245 except for the class type variables in a class declaration. However,
2246 in GHC, you can give the foralls if you want. See <xref linkend="universal-quantification"/>).
2255 <emphasis>Each universally quantified type variable
2256 <literal>tvi</literal> must be reachable from <literal>type</literal></emphasis>.
2258 A type variable <literal>a</literal> is "reachable" if it it appears
2259 in the same constraint as either a type variable free in in
2260 <literal>type</literal>, or another reachable type variable.
2261 A value with a type that does not obey
2262 this reachability restriction cannot be used without introducing
2263 ambiguity; that is why the type is rejected.
2264 Here, for example, is an illegal type:
2268 forall a. Eq a => Int
2272 When a value with this type was used, the constraint <literal>Eq tv</literal>
2273 would be introduced where <literal>tv</literal> is a fresh type variable, and
2274 (in the dictionary-translation implementation) the value would be
2275 applied to a dictionary for <literal>Eq tv</literal>. The difficulty is that we
2276 can never know which instance of <literal>Eq</literal> to use because we never
2277 get any more information about <literal>tv</literal>.
2281 that the reachability condition is weaker than saying that <literal>a</literal> is
2282 functionally dependent on a type variable free in
2283 <literal>type</literal> (see <xref
2284 linkend="functional-dependencies"/>). The reason for this is there
2285 might be a "hidden" dependency, in a superclass perhaps. So
2286 "reachable" is a conservative approximation to "functionally dependent".
2287 For example, consider:
2289 class C a b | a -> b where ...
2290 class C a b => D a b where ...
2291 f :: forall a b. D a b => a -> a
2293 This is fine, because in fact <literal>a</literal> does functionally determine <literal>b</literal>
2294 but that is not immediately apparent from <literal>f</literal>'s type.
2300 <emphasis>Every constraint <literal>ci</literal> must mention at least one of the
2301 universally quantified type variables <literal>tvi</literal></emphasis>.
2303 For example, this type is OK because <literal>C a b</literal> mentions the
2304 universally quantified type variable <literal>b</literal>:
2308 forall a. C a b => burble
2312 The next type is illegal because the constraint <literal>Eq b</literal> does not
2313 mention <literal>a</literal>:
2317 forall a. Eq b => burble
2321 The reason for this restriction is milder than the other one. The
2322 excluded types are never useful or necessary (because the offending
2323 context doesn't need to be witnessed at this point; it can be floated
2324 out). Furthermore, floating them out increases sharing. Lastly,
2325 excluding them is a conservative choice; it leaves a patch of
2326 territory free in case we need it later.
2337 <title>For-all hoisting</title>
2339 It is often convenient to use generalised type synonyms (see <xref linkend="type-synonyms"/>) at the right hand
2340 end of an arrow, thus:
2342 type Discard a = forall b. a -> b -> a
2344 g :: Int -> Discard Int
2347 Simply expanding the type synonym would give
2349 g :: Int -> (forall b. Int -> b -> Int)
2351 but GHC "hoists" the <literal>forall</literal> to give the isomorphic type
2353 g :: forall b. Int -> Int -> b -> Int
2355 In general, the rule is this: <emphasis>to determine the type specified by any explicit
2356 user-written type (e.g. in a type signature), GHC expands type synonyms and then repeatedly
2357 performs the transformation:</emphasis>
2359 <emphasis>type1</emphasis> -> forall a1..an. <emphasis>context2</emphasis> => <emphasis>type2</emphasis>
2361 forall a1..an. <emphasis>context2</emphasis> => <emphasis>type1</emphasis> -> <emphasis>type2</emphasis>
2363 (In fact, GHC tries to retain as much synonym information as possible for use in
2364 error messages, but that is a usability issue.) This rule applies, of course, whether
2365 or not the <literal>forall</literal> comes from a synonym. For example, here is another
2366 valid way to write <literal>g</literal>'s type signature:
2368 g :: Int -> Int -> forall b. b -> Int
2372 When doing this hoisting operation, GHC eliminates duplicate constraints. For
2375 type Foo a = (?x::Int) => Bool -> a
2380 g :: (?x::Int) => Bool -> Bool -> Int
2388 <sect2 id="implicit-parameters">
2389 <title>Implicit parameters</title>
2391 <para> Implicit parameters are implemented as described in
2392 "Implicit parameters: dynamic scoping with static types",
2393 J Lewis, MB Shields, E Meijer, J Launchbury,
2394 27th ACM Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages (POPL'00),
2398 <para>(Most of the following, stil rather incomplete, documentation is
2399 due to Jeff Lewis.)</para>
2401 <para>Implicit parameter support is enabled with the option
2402 <option>-fimplicit-params</option>.</para>
2405 A variable is called <emphasis>dynamically bound</emphasis> when it is bound by the calling
2406 context of a function and <emphasis>statically bound</emphasis> when bound by the callee's
2407 context. In Haskell, all variables are statically bound. Dynamic
2408 binding of variables is a notion that goes back to Lisp, but was later
2409 discarded in more modern incarnations, such as Scheme. Dynamic binding
2410 can be very confusing in an untyped language, and unfortunately, typed
2411 languages, in particular Hindley-Milner typed languages like Haskell,
2412 only support static scoping of variables.
2415 However, by a simple extension to the type class system of Haskell, we
2416 can support dynamic binding. Basically, we express the use of a
2417 dynamically bound variable as a constraint on the type. These
2418 constraints lead to types of the form <literal>(?x::t') => t</literal>, which says "this
2419 function uses a dynamically-bound variable <literal>?x</literal>
2420 of type <literal>t'</literal>". For
2421 example, the following expresses the type of a sort function,
2422 implicitly parameterized by a comparison function named <literal>cmp</literal>.
2424 sort :: (?cmp :: a -> a -> Bool) => [a] -> [a]
2426 The dynamic binding constraints are just a new form of predicate in the type class system.
2429 An implicit parameter occurs in an expression using the special form <literal>?x</literal>,
2430 where <literal>x</literal> is
2431 any valid identifier (e.g. <literal>ord ?x</literal> is a valid expression).
2432 Use of this construct also introduces a new
2433 dynamic-binding constraint in the type of the expression.
2434 For example, the following definition
2435 shows how we can define an implicitly parameterized sort function in
2436 terms of an explicitly parameterized <literal>sortBy</literal> function:
2438 sortBy :: (a -> a -> Bool) -> [a] -> [a]
2440 sort :: (?cmp :: a -> a -> Bool) => [a] -> [a]
2446 <title>Implicit-parameter type constraints</title>
2448 Dynamic binding constraints behave just like other type class
2449 constraints in that they are automatically propagated. Thus, when a
2450 function is used, its implicit parameters are inherited by the
2451 function that called it. For example, our <literal>sort</literal> function might be used
2452 to pick out the least value in a list:
2454 least :: (?cmp :: a -> a -> Bool) => [a] -> a
2455 least xs = fst (sort xs)
2457 Without lifting a finger, the <literal>?cmp</literal> parameter is
2458 propagated to become a parameter of <literal>least</literal> as well. With explicit
2459 parameters, the default is that parameters must always be explicit
2460 propagated. With implicit parameters, the default is to always
2464 An implicit-parameter type constraint differs from other type class constraints in the
2465 following way: All uses of a particular implicit parameter must have
2466 the same type. This means that the type of <literal>(?x, ?x)</literal>
2467 is <literal>(?x::a) => (a,a)</literal>, and not
2468 <literal>(?x::a, ?x::b) => (a, b)</literal>, as would be the case for type
2472 <para> You can't have an implicit parameter in the context of a class or instance
2473 declaration. For example, both these declarations are illegal:
2475 class (?x::Int) => C a where ...
2476 instance (?x::a) => Foo [a] where ...
2478 Reason: exactly which implicit parameter you pick up depends on exactly where
2479 you invoke a function. But the ``invocation'' of instance declarations is done
2480 behind the scenes by the compiler, so it's hard to figure out exactly where it is done.
2481 Easiest thing is to outlaw the offending types.</para>
2483 Implicit-parameter constraints do not cause ambiguity. For example, consider:
2485 f :: (?x :: [a]) => Int -> Int
2488 g :: (Read a, Show a) => String -> String
2491 Here, <literal>g</literal> has an ambiguous type, and is rejected, but <literal>f</literal>
2492 is fine. The binding for <literal>?x</literal> at <literal>f</literal>'s call site is
2493 quite unambiguous, and fixes the type <literal>a</literal>.
2498 <title>Implicit-parameter bindings</title>
2501 An implicit parameter is <emphasis>bound</emphasis> using the standard
2502 <literal>let</literal> or <literal>where</literal> binding forms.
2503 For example, we define the <literal>min</literal> function by binding
2504 <literal>cmp</literal>.
2507 min = let ?cmp = (<=) in least
2511 A group of implicit-parameter bindings may occur anywhere a normal group of Haskell
2512 bindings can occur, except at top level. That is, they can occur in a <literal>let</literal>
2513 (including in a list comprehension, or do-notation, or pattern guards),
2514 or a <literal>where</literal> clause.
2515 Note the following points:
2518 An implicit-parameter binding group must be a
2519 collection of simple bindings to implicit-style variables (no
2520 function-style bindings, and no type signatures); these bindings are
2521 neither polymorphic or recursive.
2524 You may not mix implicit-parameter bindings with ordinary bindings in a
2525 single <literal>let</literal>
2526 expression; use two nested <literal>let</literal>s instead.
2527 (In the case of <literal>where</literal> you are stuck, since you can't nest <literal>where</literal> clauses.)
2531 You may put multiple implicit-parameter bindings in a
2532 single binding group; but they are <emphasis>not</emphasis> treated
2533 as a mutually recursive group (as ordinary <literal>let</literal> bindings are).
2534 Instead they are treated as a non-recursive group, simultaneously binding all the implicit
2535 parameter. The bindings are not nested, and may be re-ordered without changing
2536 the meaning of the program.
2537 For example, consider:
2539 f t = let { ?x = t; ?y = ?x+(1::Int) } in ?x + ?y
2541 The use of <literal>?x</literal> in the binding for <literal>?y</literal> does not "see"
2542 the binding for <literal>?x</literal>, so the type of <literal>f</literal> is
2544 f :: (?x::Int) => Int -> Int
2552 <sect3><title>Implicit parameters and polymorphic recursion</title>
2555 Consider these two definitions:
2558 len1 xs = let ?acc = 0 in len_acc1 xs
2561 len_acc1 (x:xs) = let ?acc = ?acc + (1::Int) in len_acc1 xs
2566 len2 xs = let ?acc = 0 in len_acc2 xs
2568 len_acc2 :: (?acc :: Int) => [a] -> Int
2570 len_acc2 (x:xs) = let ?acc = ?acc + (1::Int) in len_acc2 xs
2572 The only difference between the two groups is that in the second group
2573 <literal>len_acc</literal> is given a type signature.
2574 In the former case, <literal>len_acc1</literal> is monomorphic in its own
2575 right-hand side, so the implicit parameter <literal>?acc</literal> is not
2576 passed to the recursive call. In the latter case, because <literal>len_acc2</literal>
2577 has a type signature, the recursive call is made to the
2578 <emphasis>polymoprhic</emphasis> version, which takes <literal>?acc</literal>
2579 as an implicit parameter. So we get the following results in GHCi:
2586 Adding a type signature dramatically changes the result! This is a rather
2587 counter-intuitive phenomenon, worth watching out for.
2591 <sect3><title>Implicit parameters and monomorphism</title>
2593 <para>GHC applies the dreaded Monomorphism Restriction (section 4.5.5 of the
2594 Haskell Report) to implicit parameters. For example, consider:
2602 Since the binding for <literal>y</literal> falls under the Monomorphism
2603 Restriction it is not generalised, so the type of <literal>y</literal> is
2604 simply <literal>Int</literal>, not <literal>(?x::Int) => Int</literal>.
2605 Hence, <literal>(f 9)</literal> returns result <literal>9</literal>.
2606 If you add a type signature for <literal>y</literal>, then <literal>y</literal>
2607 will get type <literal>(?x::Int) => Int</literal>, so the occurrence of
2608 <literal>y</literal> in the body of the <literal>let</literal> will see the
2609 inner binding of <literal>?x</literal>, so <literal>(f 9)</literal> will return
2610 <literal>14</literal>.
2615 <sect2 id="linear-implicit-parameters">
2616 <title>Linear implicit parameters</title>
2618 Linear implicit parameters are an idea developed by Koen Claessen,
2619 Mark Shields, and Simon PJ. They address the long-standing
2620 problem that monads seem over-kill for certain sorts of problem, notably:
2623 <listitem> <para> distributing a supply of unique names </para> </listitem>
2624 <listitem> <para> distributing a supply of random numbers </para> </listitem>
2625 <listitem> <para> distributing an oracle (as in QuickCheck) </para> </listitem>
2629 Linear implicit parameters are just like ordinary implicit parameters,
2630 except that they are "linear" -- that is, they cannot be copied, and
2631 must be explicitly "split" instead. Linear implicit parameters are
2632 written '<literal>%x</literal>' instead of '<literal>?x</literal>'.
2633 (The '/' in the '%' suggests the split!)
2638 import GHC.Exts( Splittable )
2640 data NameSupply = ...
2642 splitNS :: NameSupply -> (NameSupply, NameSupply)
2643 newName :: NameSupply -> Name
2645 instance Splittable NameSupply where
2649 f :: (%ns :: NameSupply) => Env -> Expr -> Expr
2650 f env (Lam x e) = Lam x' (f env e)
2653 env' = extend env x x'
2654 ...more equations for f...
2656 Notice that the implicit parameter %ns is consumed
2658 <listitem> <para> once by the call to <literal>newName</literal> </para> </listitem>
2659 <listitem> <para> once by the recursive call to <literal>f</literal> </para></listitem>
2663 So the translation done by the type checker makes
2664 the parameter explicit:
2666 f :: NameSupply -> Env -> Expr -> Expr
2667 f ns env (Lam x e) = Lam x' (f ns1 env e)
2669 (ns1,ns2) = splitNS ns
2671 env = extend env x x'
2673 Notice the call to 'split' introduced by the type checker.
2674 How did it know to use 'splitNS'? Because what it really did
2675 was to introduce a call to the overloaded function 'split',
2676 defined by the class <literal>Splittable</literal>:
2678 class Splittable a where
2681 The instance for <literal>Splittable NameSupply</literal> tells GHC how to implement
2682 split for name supplies. But we can simply write
2688 g :: (Splittable a, %ns :: a) => b -> (b,a,a)
2690 The <literal>Splittable</literal> class is built into GHC. It's exported by module
2691 <literal>GHC.Exts</literal>.
2696 <listitem> <para> '<literal>?x</literal>' and '<literal>%x</literal>'
2697 are entirely distinct implicit parameters: you
2698 can use them together and they won't intefere with each other. </para>
2701 <listitem> <para> You can bind linear implicit parameters in 'with' clauses. </para> </listitem>
2703 <listitem> <para>You cannot have implicit parameters (whether linear or not)
2704 in the context of a class or instance declaration. </para></listitem>
2708 <sect3><title>Warnings</title>
2711 The monomorphism restriction is even more important than usual.
2712 Consider the example above:
2714 f :: (%ns :: NameSupply) => Env -> Expr -> Expr
2715 f env (Lam x e) = Lam x' (f env e)
2718 env' = extend env x x'
2720 If we replaced the two occurrences of x' by (newName %ns), which is
2721 usually a harmless thing to do, we get:
2723 f :: (%ns :: NameSupply) => Env -> Expr -> Expr
2724 f env (Lam x e) = Lam (newName %ns) (f env e)
2726 env' = extend env x (newName %ns)
2728 But now the name supply is consumed in <emphasis>three</emphasis> places
2729 (the two calls to newName,and the recursive call to f), so
2730 the result is utterly different. Urk! We don't even have
2734 Well, this is an experimental change. With implicit
2735 parameters we have already lost beta reduction anyway, and
2736 (as John Launchbury puts it) we can't sensibly reason about
2737 Haskell programs without knowing their typing.
2742 <sect3><title>Recursive functions</title>
2743 <para>Linear implicit parameters can be particularly tricky when you have a recursive function
2746 foo :: %x::T => Int -> [Int]
2748 foo n = %x : foo (n-1)
2750 where T is some type in class Splittable.</para>
2752 Do you get a list of all the same T's or all different T's
2753 (assuming that split gives two distinct T's back)?
2755 If you supply the type signature, taking advantage of polymorphic
2756 recursion, you get what you'd probably expect. Here's the
2757 translated term, where the implicit param is made explicit:
2760 foo x n = let (x1,x2) = split x
2761 in x1 : foo x2 (n-1)
2763 But if you don't supply a type signature, GHC uses the Hindley
2764 Milner trick of using a single monomorphic instance of the function
2765 for the recursive calls. That is what makes Hindley Milner type inference
2766 work. So the translation becomes
2770 foom n = x : foom (n-1)
2774 Result: 'x' is not split, and you get a list of identical T's. So the
2775 semantics of the program depends on whether or not foo has a type signature.
2778 You may say that this is a good reason to dislike linear implicit parameters
2779 and you'd be right. That is why they are an experimental feature.
2785 <sect2 id="sec-kinding">
2786 <title>Explicitly-kinded quantification</title>
2789 Haskell infers the kind of each type variable. Sometimes it is nice to be able
2790 to give the kind explicitly as (machine-checked) documentation,
2791 just as it is nice to give a type signature for a function. On some occasions,
2792 it is essential to do so. For example, in his paper "Restricted Data Types in Haskell" (Haskell Workshop 1999)
2793 John Hughes had to define the data type:
2795 data Set cxt a = Set [a]
2796 | Unused (cxt a -> ())
2798 The only use for the <literal>Unused</literal> constructor was to force the correct
2799 kind for the type variable <literal>cxt</literal>.
2802 GHC now instead allows you to specify the kind of a type variable directly, wherever
2803 a type variable is explicitly bound. Namely:
2805 <listitem><para><literal>data</literal> declarations:
2807 data Set (cxt :: * -> *) a = Set [a]
2808 </screen></para></listitem>
2809 <listitem><para><literal>type</literal> declarations:
2811 type T (f :: * -> *) = f Int
2812 </screen></para></listitem>
2813 <listitem><para><literal>class</literal> declarations:
2815 class (Eq a) => C (f :: * -> *) a where ...
2816 </screen></para></listitem>
2817 <listitem><para><literal>forall</literal>'s in type signatures:
2819 f :: forall (cxt :: * -> *). Set cxt Int
2820 </screen></para></listitem>
2825 The parentheses are required. Some of the spaces are required too, to
2826 separate the lexemes. If you write <literal>(f::*->*)</literal> you
2827 will get a parse error, because "<literal>::*->*</literal>" is a
2828 single lexeme in Haskell.
2832 As part of the same extension, you can put kind annotations in types
2835 f :: (Int :: *) -> Int
2836 g :: forall a. a -> (a :: *)
2840 atype ::= '(' ctype '::' kind ')
2842 The parentheses are required.
2847 <sect2 id="universal-quantification">
2848 <title>Arbitrary-rank polymorphism
2852 Haskell type signatures are implicitly quantified. The new keyword <literal>forall</literal>
2853 allows us to say exactly what this means. For example:
2861 g :: forall b. (b -> b)
2863 The two are treated identically.
2867 However, GHC's type system supports <emphasis>arbitrary-rank</emphasis>
2868 explicit universal quantification in
2870 For example, all the following types are legal:
2872 f1 :: forall a b. a -> b -> a
2873 g1 :: forall a b. (Ord a, Eq b) => a -> b -> a
2875 f2 :: (forall a. a->a) -> Int -> Int
2876 g2 :: (forall a. Eq a => [a] -> a -> Bool) -> Int -> Int
2878 f3 :: ((forall a. a->a) -> Int) -> Bool -> Bool
2880 Here, <literal>f1</literal> and <literal>g1</literal> are rank-1 types, and
2881 can be written in standard Haskell (e.g. <literal>f1 :: a->b->a</literal>).
2882 The <literal>forall</literal> makes explicit the universal quantification that
2883 is implicitly added by Haskell.
2886 The functions <literal>f2</literal> and <literal>g2</literal> have rank-2 types;
2887 the <literal>forall</literal> is on the left of a function arrow. As <literal>g2</literal>
2888 shows, the polymorphic type on the left of the function arrow can be overloaded.
2891 The function <literal>f3</literal> has a rank-3 type;
2892 it has rank-2 types on the left of a function arrow.
2895 GHC allows types of arbitrary rank; you can nest <literal>forall</literal>s
2896 arbitrarily deep in function arrows. (GHC used to be restricted to rank 2, but
2897 that restriction has now been lifted.)
2898 In particular, a forall-type (also called a "type scheme"),
2899 including an operational type class context, is legal:
2901 <listitem> <para> On the left of a function arrow </para> </listitem>
2902 <listitem> <para> On the right of a function arrow (see <xref linkend="hoist"/>) </para> </listitem>
2903 <listitem> <para> As the argument of a constructor, or type of a field, in a data type declaration. For
2904 example, any of the <literal>f1,f2,f3,g1,g2</literal> above would be valid
2905 field type signatures.</para> </listitem>
2906 <listitem> <para> As the type of an implicit parameter </para> </listitem>
2907 <listitem> <para> In a pattern type signature (see <xref linkend="scoped-type-variables"/>) </para> </listitem>
2909 There is one place you cannot put a <literal>forall</literal>:
2910 you cannot instantiate a type variable with a forall-type. So you cannot
2911 make a forall-type the argument of a type constructor. So these types are illegal:
2913 x1 :: [forall a. a->a]
2914 x2 :: (forall a. a->a, Int)
2915 x3 :: Maybe (forall a. a->a)
2917 Of course <literal>forall</literal> becomes a keyword; you can't use <literal>forall</literal> as
2918 a type variable any more!
2927 In a <literal>data</literal> or <literal>newtype</literal> declaration one can quantify
2928 the types of the constructor arguments. Here are several examples:
2934 data T a = T1 (forall b. b -> b -> b) a
2936 data MonadT m = MkMonad { return :: forall a. a -> m a,
2937 bind :: forall a b. m a -> (a -> m b) -> m b
2940 newtype Swizzle = MkSwizzle (Ord a => [a] -> [a])
2946 The constructors have rank-2 types:
2952 T1 :: forall a. (forall b. b -> b -> b) -> a -> T a
2953 MkMonad :: forall m. (forall a. a -> m a)
2954 -> (forall a b. m a -> (a -> m b) -> m b)
2956 MkSwizzle :: (Ord a => [a] -> [a]) -> Swizzle
2962 Notice that you don't need to use a <literal>forall</literal> if there's an
2963 explicit context. For example in the first argument of the
2964 constructor <function>MkSwizzle</function>, an implicit "<literal>forall a.</literal>" is
2965 prefixed to the argument type. The implicit <literal>forall</literal>
2966 quantifies all type variables that are not already in scope, and are
2967 mentioned in the type quantified over.
2971 As for type signatures, implicit quantification happens for non-overloaded
2972 types too. So if you write this:
2975 data T a = MkT (Either a b) (b -> b)
2978 it's just as if you had written this:
2981 data T a = MkT (forall b. Either a b) (forall b. b -> b)
2984 That is, since the type variable <literal>b</literal> isn't in scope, it's
2985 implicitly universally quantified. (Arguably, it would be better
2986 to <emphasis>require</emphasis> explicit quantification on constructor arguments
2987 where that is what is wanted. Feedback welcomed.)
2991 You construct values of types <literal>T1, MonadT, Swizzle</literal> by applying
2992 the constructor to suitable values, just as usual. For example,
3003 a3 = MkSwizzle reverse
3006 a4 = let r x = Just x
3013 mkTs :: (forall b. b -> b -> b) -> a -> [T a]
3014 mkTs f x y = [T1 f x, T1 f y]
3020 The type of the argument can, as usual, be more general than the type
3021 required, as <literal>(MkSwizzle reverse)</literal> shows. (<function>reverse</function>
3022 does not need the <literal>Ord</literal> constraint.)
3026 When you use pattern matching, the bound variables may now have
3027 polymorphic types. For example:
3033 f :: T a -> a -> (a, Char)
3034 f (T1 w k) x = (w k x, w 'c' 'd')
3036 g :: (Ord a, Ord b) => Swizzle -> [a] -> (a -> b) -> [b]
3037 g (MkSwizzle s) xs f = s (map f (s xs))
3039 h :: MonadT m -> [m a] -> m [a]
3040 h m [] = return m []
3041 h m (x:xs) = bind m x $ \y ->
3042 bind m (h m xs) $ \ys ->
3049 In the function <function>h</function> we use the record selectors <literal>return</literal>
3050 and <literal>bind</literal> to extract the polymorphic bind and return functions
3051 from the <literal>MonadT</literal> data structure, rather than using pattern
3057 <title>Type inference</title>
3060 In general, type inference for arbitrary-rank types is undecidable.
3061 GHC uses an algorithm proposed by Odersky and Laufer ("Putting type annotations to work", POPL'96)
3062 to get a decidable algorithm by requiring some help from the programmer.
3063 We do not yet have a formal specification of "some help" but the rule is this:
3066 <emphasis>For a lambda-bound or case-bound variable, x, either the programmer
3067 provides an explicit polymorphic type for x, or GHC's type inference will assume
3068 that x's type has no foralls in it</emphasis>.
3071 What does it mean to "provide" an explicit type for x? You can do that by
3072 giving a type signature for x directly, using a pattern type signature
3073 (<xref linkend="scoped-type-variables"/>), thus:
3075 \ f :: (forall a. a->a) -> (f True, f 'c')
3077 Alternatively, you can give a type signature to the enclosing
3078 context, which GHC can "push down" to find the type for the variable:
3080 (\ f -> (f True, f 'c')) :: (forall a. a->a) -> (Bool,Char)
3082 Here the type signature on the expression can be pushed inwards
3083 to give a type signature for f. Similarly, and more commonly,
3084 one can give a type signature for the function itself:
3086 h :: (forall a. a->a) -> (Bool,Char)
3087 h f = (f True, f 'c')
3089 You don't need to give a type signature if the lambda bound variable
3090 is a constructor argument. Here is an example we saw earlier:
3092 f :: T a -> a -> (a, Char)
3093 f (T1 w k) x = (w k x, w 'c' 'd')
3095 Here we do not need to give a type signature to <literal>w</literal>, because
3096 it is an argument of constructor <literal>T1</literal> and that tells GHC all
3103 <sect3 id="implicit-quant">
3104 <title>Implicit quantification</title>
3107 GHC performs implicit quantification as follows. <emphasis>At the top level (only) of
3108 user-written types, if and only if there is no explicit <literal>forall</literal>,
3109 GHC finds all the type variables mentioned in the type that are not already
3110 in scope, and universally quantifies them.</emphasis> For example, the following pairs are
3114 f :: forall a. a -> a
3121 h :: forall b. a -> b -> b
3127 Notice that GHC does <emphasis>not</emphasis> find the innermost possible quantification
3130 f :: (a -> a) -> Int
3132 f :: forall a. (a -> a) -> Int
3134 f :: (forall a. a -> a) -> Int
3137 g :: (Ord a => a -> a) -> Int
3138 -- MEANS the illegal type
3139 g :: forall a. (Ord a => a -> a) -> Int
3141 g :: (forall a. Ord a => a -> a) -> Int
3143 The latter produces an illegal type, which you might think is silly,
3144 but at least the rule is simple. If you want the latter type, you
3145 can write your for-alls explicitly. Indeed, doing so is strongly advised
3154 <sect2 id="scoped-type-variables">
3155 <title>Scoped type variables
3159 A <emphasis>lexically scoped type variable</emphasis> can be bound by:
3161 <listitem><para>A declaration type signature (<xref linkend="decl-type-sigs"/>)</para></listitem>
3162 <listitem><para>A pattern type signature (<xref linkend="pattern-type-sigs"/>)</para></listitem>
3163 <listitem><para>A result type signature (<xref linkend="result-type-sigs"/>)</para></listitem>
3167 f (xs::[a]) = ys ++ ys
3172 The pattern <literal>(xs::[a])</literal> includes a type signature for <varname>xs</varname>.
3173 This brings the type variable <literal>a</literal> into scope; it scopes over
3174 all the patterns and right hand sides for this equation for <function>f</function>.
3175 In particular, it is in scope at the type signature for <varname>y</varname>.
3179 At ordinary type signatures, such as that for <varname>ys</varname>, any type variables
3180 mentioned in the type signature <emphasis>that are not in scope</emphasis> are
3181 implicitly universally quantified. (If there are no type variables in
3182 scope, all type variables mentioned in the signature are universally
3183 quantified, which is just as in Haskell 98.) In this case, since <varname>a</varname>
3184 is in scope, it is not universally quantified, so the type of <varname>ys</varname> is
3185 the same as that of <varname>xs</varname>. In Haskell 98 it is not possible to declare
3186 a type for <varname>ys</varname>; a major benefit of scoped type variables is that
3187 it becomes possible to do so.
3191 Scoped type variables are implemented in both GHC and Hugs. Where the
3192 implementations differ from the specification below, those differences
3197 So much for the basic idea. Here are the details.
3201 <title>What a scoped type variable means</title>
3203 A lexically-scoped type variable is simply
3204 the name for a type. The restriction it expresses is that all occurrences
3205 of the same name mean the same type. For example:
3207 f :: [Int] -> Int -> Int
3208 f (xs::[a]) (y::a) = (head xs + y) :: a
3210 The pattern type signatures on the left hand side of
3211 <literal>f</literal> express the fact that <literal>xs</literal>
3212 must be a list of things of some type <literal>a</literal>; and that <literal>y</literal>
3213 must have this same type. The type signature on the expression <literal>(head xs)</literal>
3214 specifies that this expression must have the same type <literal>a</literal>.
3215 <emphasis>There is no requirement that the type named by "<literal>a</literal>" is
3216 in fact a type variable</emphasis>. Indeed, in this case, the type named by "<literal>a</literal>" is
3217 <literal>Int</literal>. (This is a slight liberalisation from the original rather complex
3218 rules, which specified that a pattern-bound type variable should be universally quantified.)
3219 For example, all of these are legal:</para>
3222 t (x::a) (y::a) = x+y*2
3224 f (x::a) (y::b) = [x,y] -- a unifies with b
3226 g (x::a) = x + 1::Int -- a unifies with Int
3228 h x = let k (y::a) = [x,y] -- a is free in the
3229 in k x -- environment
3231 k (x::a) True = ... -- a unifies with Int
3232 k (x::Int) False = ...
3235 w (x::a) = x -- a unifies with [b]
3241 <title>Scope and implicit quantification</title>
3249 All the type variables mentioned in a pattern,
3250 that are not already in scope,
3251 are brought into scope by the pattern. We describe this set as
3252 the <emphasis>type variables bound by the pattern</emphasis>.
3255 f (x::a) = let g (y::(a,b)) = fst y
3259 The pattern <literal>(x::a)</literal> brings the type variable
3260 <literal>a</literal> into scope, as well as the term
3261 variable <literal>x</literal>. The pattern <literal>(y::(a,b))</literal>
3262 contains an occurrence of the already-in-scope type variable <literal>a</literal>,
3263 and brings into scope the type variable <literal>b</literal>.
3269 The type variable(s) bound by the pattern have the same scope
3270 as the term variable(s) bound by the pattern. For example:
3273 f (x::a) = <...rhs of f...>
3274 (p::b, q::b) = (1,2)
3275 in <...body of let...>
3277 Here, the type variable <literal>a</literal> scopes over the right hand side of <literal>f</literal>,
3278 just like <literal>x</literal> does; while the type variable <literal>b</literal> scopes over the
3279 body of the <literal>let</literal>, and all the other definitions in the <literal>let</literal>,
3280 just like <literal>p</literal> and <literal>q</literal> do.
3281 Indeed, the newly bound type variables also scope over any ordinary, separate
3282 type signatures in the <literal>let</literal> group.
3289 The type variables bound by the pattern may be
3290 mentioned in ordinary type signatures or pattern
3291 type signatures anywhere within their scope.
3298 In ordinary type signatures, any type variable mentioned in the
3299 signature that is in scope is <emphasis>not</emphasis> universally quantified.
3307 Ordinary type signatures do not bring any new type variables
3308 into scope (except in the type signature itself!). So this is illegal:
3315 It's illegal because <varname>a</varname> is not in scope in the body of <function>f</function>,
3316 so the ordinary signature <literal>x::a</literal> is equivalent to <literal>x::forall a.a</literal>;
3317 and that is an incorrect typing.
3324 The pattern type signature is a monotype:
3329 A pattern type signature cannot contain any explicit <literal>forall</literal> quantification.
3333 The type variables bound by a pattern type signature can only be instantiated to monotypes,
3334 not to type schemes.
3338 There is no implicit universal quantification on pattern type signatures (in contrast to
3339 ordinary type signatures).
3349 The type variables in the head of a <literal>class</literal> or <literal>instance</literal> declaration
3350 scope over the methods defined in the <literal>where</literal> part. For example:
3364 (Not implemented in Hugs yet, Dec 98).
3374 <sect3 id="decl-type-sigs">
3375 <title>Declaration type signatures</title>
3376 <para>A declaration type signature that has <emphasis>explicit</emphasis>
3377 quantification (using <literal>forall</literal>) brings into scope the
3378 explicitly-quantified
3379 type variables, in the definition of the named function(s). For example:
3381 f :: forall a. [a] -> [a]
3382 f (x:xs) = xs ++ [ x :: a ]
3384 The "<literal>forall a</literal>" brings "<literal>a</literal>" into scope in
3385 the definition of "<literal>f</literal>".
3387 <para>This only happens if the quantification in <literal>f</literal>'s type
3388 signature is explicit. For example:
3391 g (x:xs) = xs ++ [ x :: a ]
3393 This program will be rejected, because "<literal>a</literal>" does not scope
3394 over the definition of "<literal>f</literal>", so "<literal>x::a</literal>"
3395 means "<literal>x::forall a. a</literal>" by Haskell's usual implicit
3396 quantification rules.
3400 <sect3 id="pattern-type-sigs">
3401 <title>Where a pattern type signature can occur</title>
3404 A pattern type signature can occur in any pattern. For example:
3409 A pattern type signature can be on an arbitrary sub-pattern, not
3414 f ((x,y)::(a,b)) = (y,x) :: (b,a)
3423 Pattern type signatures, including the result part, can be used
3424 in lambda abstractions:
3427 (\ (x::a, y) :: a -> x)
3434 Pattern type signatures, including the result part, can be used
3435 in <literal>case</literal> expressions:
3438 case e of { ((x::a, y) :: (a,b)) -> x }
3441 Note that the <literal>-></literal> symbol in a case alternative
3442 leads to difficulties when parsing a type signature in the pattern: in
3443 the absence of the extra parentheses in the example above, the parser
3444 would try to interpret the <literal>-></literal> as a function
3445 arrow and give a parse error later.
3453 To avoid ambiguity, the type after the “<literal>::</literal>” in a result
3454 pattern signature on a lambda or <literal>case</literal> must be atomic (i.e. a single
3455 token or a parenthesised type of some sort). To see why,
3456 consider how one would parse this:
3470 Pattern type signatures can bind existential type variables.
3475 data T = forall a. MkT [a]
3478 f (MkT [t::a]) = MkT t3
3491 Pattern type signatures
3492 can be used in pattern bindings:
3495 f x = let (y, z::a) = x in ...
3496 f1 x = let (y, z::Int) = x in ...
3497 f2 (x::(Int,a)) = let (y, z::a) = x in ...
3498 f3 :: (b->b) = \x -> x
3501 In all such cases, the binding is not generalised over the pattern-bound
3502 type variables. Thus <literal>f3</literal> is monomorphic; <literal>f3</literal>
3503 has type <literal>b -> b</literal> for some type <literal>b</literal>,
3504 and <emphasis>not</emphasis> <literal>forall b. b -> b</literal>.
3505 In contrast, the binding
3510 makes a polymorphic function, but <literal>b</literal> is not in scope anywhere
3511 in <literal>f4</literal>'s scope.
3517 <para>Pattern type signatures are completely orthogonal to ordinary, separate
3518 type signatures. The two can be used independently or together.</para>
3522 <sect3 id="result-type-sigs">
3523 <title>Result type signatures</title>
3526 The result type of a function can be given a signature, thus:
3530 f (x::a) :: [a] = [x,x,x]
3534 The final <literal>:: [a]</literal> after all the patterns gives a signature to the
3535 result type. Sometimes this is the only way of naming the type variable
3540 f :: Int -> [a] -> [a]
3541 f n :: ([a] -> [a]) = let g (x::a, y::a) = (y,x)
3542 in \xs -> map g (reverse xs `zip` xs)
3547 The type variables bound in a result type signature scope over the right hand side
3548 of the definition. However, consider this corner-case:
3550 rev1 :: [a] -> [a] = \xs -> reverse xs
3552 foo ys = rev (ys::[a])
3554 The signature on <literal>rev1</literal> is considered a pattern type signature, not a result
3555 type signature, and the type variables it binds have the same scope as <literal>rev1</literal>
3556 itself (i.e. the right-hand side of <literal>rev1</literal> and the rest of the module too).
3557 In particular, the expression <literal>(ys::[a])</literal> is OK, because the type variable <literal>a</literal>
3558 is in scope (otherwise it would mean <literal>(ys::forall a.[a])</literal>, which would be rejected).
3561 As mentioned above, <literal>rev1</literal> is made monomorphic by this scoping rule.
3562 For example, the following program would be rejected, because it claims that <literal>rev1</literal>
3566 rev1 :: [a] -> [a] = \xs -> reverse xs
3571 Result type signatures are not yet implemented in Hugs.
3578 <sect2 id="deriving-typeable">
3579 <title>Deriving clause for classes <literal>Typeable</literal> and <literal>Data</literal></title>
3582 Haskell 98 allows the programmer to add "<literal>deriving( Eq, Ord )</literal>" to a data type
3583 declaration, to generate a standard instance declaration for classes specified in the <literal>deriving</literal> clause.
3584 In Haskell 98, the only classes that may appear in the <literal>deriving</literal> clause are the standard
3585 classes <literal>Eq</literal>, <literal>Ord</literal>,
3586 <literal>Enum</literal>, <literal>Ix</literal>, <literal>Bounded</literal>, <literal>Read</literal>, and <literal>Show</literal>.
3589 GHC extends this list with two more classes that may be automatically derived
3590 (provided the <option>-fglasgow-exts</option> flag is specified):
3591 <literal>Typeable</literal>, and <literal>Data</literal>. These classes are defined in the library
3592 modules <literal>Data.Typeable</literal> and <literal>Data.Generics</literal> respectively, and the
3593 appropriate class must be in scope before it can be mentioned in the <literal>deriving</literal> clause.
3595 <para>An instance of <literal>Typeable</literal> can only be derived if the
3596 data type has seven or fewer type parameters, all of kind <literal>*</literal>.
3597 The reason for this is that the <literal>Typeable</literal> class is derived using the scheme
3599 <ulink url="http://research.microsoft.com/%7Esimonpj/papers/hmap/gmap2.ps">
3600 Scrap More Boilerplate: Reflection, Zips, and Generalised Casts
3602 (Section 7.4 of the paper describes the multiple <literal>Typeable</literal> classes that
3603 are used, and only <literal>Typeable1</literal> up to
3604 <literal>Typeable7</literal> are provided in the library.)
3605 In other cases, there is nothing to stop the programmer writing a <literal>TypableX</literal>
3606 class, whose kind suits that of the data type constructor, and
3607 then writing the data type instance by hand.
3611 <sect2 id="newtype-deriving">
3612 <title>Generalised derived instances for newtypes</title>
3615 When you define an abstract type using <literal>newtype</literal>, you may want
3616 the new type to inherit some instances from its representation. In
3617 Haskell 98, you can inherit instances of <literal>Eq</literal>, <literal>Ord</literal>,
3618 <literal>Enum</literal> and <literal>Bounded</literal> by deriving them, but for any
3619 other classes you have to write an explicit instance declaration. For
3620 example, if you define
3623 newtype Dollars = Dollars Int
3626 and you want to use arithmetic on <literal>Dollars</literal>, you have to
3627 explicitly define an instance of <literal>Num</literal>:
3630 instance Num Dollars where
3631 Dollars a + Dollars b = Dollars (a+b)
3634 All the instance does is apply and remove the <literal>newtype</literal>
3635 constructor. It is particularly galling that, since the constructor
3636 doesn't appear at run-time, this instance declaration defines a
3637 dictionary which is <emphasis>wholly equivalent</emphasis> to the <literal>Int</literal>
3638 dictionary, only slower!
3642 <sect3> <title> Generalising the deriving clause </title>
3644 GHC now permits such instances to be derived instead, so one can write
3646 newtype Dollars = Dollars Int deriving (Eq,Show,Num)
3649 and the implementation uses the <emphasis>same</emphasis> <literal>Num</literal> dictionary
3650 for <literal>Dollars</literal> as for <literal>Int</literal>. Notionally, the compiler
3651 derives an instance declaration of the form
3654 instance Num Int => Num Dollars
3657 which just adds or removes the <literal>newtype</literal> constructor according to the type.
3661 We can also derive instances of constructor classes in a similar
3662 way. For example, suppose we have implemented state and failure monad
3663 transformers, such that
3666 instance Monad m => Monad (State s m)
3667 instance Monad m => Monad (Failure m)
3669 In Haskell 98, we can define a parsing monad by
3671 type Parser tok m a = State [tok] (Failure m) a
3674 which is automatically a monad thanks to the instance declarations
3675 above. With the extension, we can make the parser type abstract,
3676 without needing to write an instance of class <literal>Monad</literal>, via
3679 newtype Parser tok m a = Parser (State [tok] (Failure m) a)
3682 In this case the derived instance declaration is of the form
3684 instance Monad (State [tok] (Failure m)) => Monad (Parser tok m)
3687 Notice that, since <literal>Monad</literal> is a constructor class, the
3688 instance is a <emphasis>partial application</emphasis> of the new type, not the
3689 entire left hand side. We can imagine that the type declaration is
3690 ``eta-converted'' to generate the context of the instance
3695 We can even derive instances of multi-parameter classes, provided the
3696 newtype is the last class parameter. In this case, a ``partial
3697 application'' of the class appears in the <literal>deriving</literal>
3698 clause. For example, given the class
3701 class StateMonad s m | m -> s where ...
3702 instance Monad m => StateMonad s (State s m) where ...
3704 then we can derive an instance of <literal>StateMonad</literal> for <literal>Parser</literal>s by
3706 newtype Parser tok m a = Parser (State [tok] (Failure m) a)
3707 deriving (Monad, StateMonad [tok])
3710 The derived instance is obtained by completing the application of the
3711 class to the new type:
3714 instance StateMonad [tok] (State [tok] (Failure m)) =>
3715 StateMonad [tok] (Parser tok m)
3720 As a result of this extension, all derived instances in newtype
3721 declarations are treated uniformly (and implemented just by reusing
3722 the dictionary for the representation type), <emphasis>except</emphasis>
3723 <literal>Show</literal> and <literal>Read</literal>, which really behave differently for
3724 the newtype and its representation.
3728 <sect3> <title> A more precise specification </title>
3730 Derived instance declarations are constructed as follows. Consider the
3731 declaration (after expansion of any type synonyms)
3734 newtype T v1...vn = T' (S t1...tk vk+1...vn) deriving (c1...cm)
3740 <literal>S</literal> is a type constructor,
3743 The <literal>t1...tk</literal> are types,
3746 The <literal>vk+1...vn</literal> are type variables which do not occur in any of
3747 the <literal>ti</literal>, and
3750 The <literal>ci</literal> are partial applications of
3751 classes of the form <literal>C t1'...tj'</literal>, where the arity of <literal>C</literal>
3752 is exactly <literal>j+1</literal>. That is, <literal>C</literal> lacks exactly one type argument.
3755 None of the <literal>ci</literal> is <literal>Read</literal>, <literal>Show</literal>,
3756 <literal>Typeable</literal>, or <literal>Data</literal>. These classes
3757 should not "look through" the type or its constructor. You can still
3758 derive these classes for a newtype, but it happens in the usual way, not
3759 via this new mechanism.
3762 Then, for each <literal>ci</literal>, the derived instance
3765 instance ci (S t1...tk vk+1...v) => ci (T v1...vp)
3767 where <literal>p</literal> is chosen so that <literal>T v1...vp</literal> is of the
3768 right <emphasis>kind</emphasis> for the last parameter of class <literal>Ci</literal>.
3772 As an example which does <emphasis>not</emphasis> work, consider
3774 newtype NonMonad m s = NonMonad (State s m s) deriving Monad
3776 Here we cannot derive the instance
3778 instance Monad (State s m) => Monad (NonMonad m)
3781 because the type variable <literal>s</literal> occurs in <literal>State s m</literal>,
3782 and so cannot be "eta-converted" away. It is a good thing that this
3783 <literal>deriving</literal> clause is rejected, because <literal>NonMonad m</literal> is
3784 not, in fact, a monad --- for the same reason. Try defining
3785 <literal>>>=</literal> with the correct type: you won't be able to.
3789 Notice also that the <emphasis>order</emphasis> of class parameters becomes
3790 important, since we can only derive instances for the last one. If the
3791 <literal>StateMonad</literal> class above were instead defined as
3794 class StateMonad m s | m -> s where ...
3797 then we would not have been able to derive an instance for the
3798 <literal>Parser</literal> type above. We hypothesise that multi-parameter
3799 classes usually have one "main" parameter for which deriving new
3800 instances is most interesting.
3802 <para>Lastly, all of this applies only for classes other than
3803 <literal>Read</literal>, <literal>Show</literal>, <literal>Typeable</literal>,
3804 and <literal>Data</literal>, for which the built-in derivation applies (section
3805 4.3.3. of the Haskell Report).
3806 (For the standard classes <literal>Eq</literal>, <literal>Ord</literal>,
3807 <literal>Ix</literal>, and <literal>Bounded</literal> it is immaterial whether
3808 the standard method is used or the one described here.)
3814 <sect2 id="typing-binds">
3815 <title>Generalised typing of mutually recursive bindings</title>
3818 The Haskell Report specifies that a group of bindings (at top level, or in a
3819 <literal>let</literal> or <literal>where</literal>) should be sorted into
3820 strongly-connected components, and then type-checked in dependency order
3821 (<ulink url="http://haskell.org/onlinereport/decls.html#sect4.5.1">Haskell
3822 Report, Section 4.5.1</ulink>).
3823 As each group is type-checked, any binders of the group that
3825 an explicit type signature are put in the type environment with the specified
3827 and all others are monomorphic until the group is generalised
3828 (<ulink url="http://haskell.org/onlinereport/decls.html#sect4.5.2">Haskell Report, Section 4.5.2</ulink>).
3831 <para>Following a suggestion of Mark Jones, in his paper
3832 <ulink url="http://www.cse.ogi.edu/~mpj/thih/">Typing Haskell in
3834 GHC implements a more general scheme. If <option>-fglasgow-exts</option> is
3836 <emphasis>the dependency analysis ignores references to variables that have an explicit
3837 type signature</emphasis>.
3838 As a result of this refined dependency analysis, the dependency groups are smaller, and more bindings will
3839 typecheck. For example, consider:
3841 f :: Eq a => a -> Bool
3842 f x = (x == x) || g True || g "Yes"
3844 g y = (y <= y) || f True
3846 This is rejected by Haskell 98, but under Jones's scheme the definition for
3847 <literal>g</literal> is typechecked first, separately from that for
3848 <literal>f</literal>,
3849 because the reference to <literal>f</literal> in <literal>g</literal>'s right
3850 hand side is ingored by the dependency analysis. Then <literal>g</literal>'s
3851 type is generalised, to get
3853 g :: Ord a => a -> Bool
3855 Now, the defintion for <literal>f</literal> is typechecked, with this type for
3856 <literal>g</literal> in the type environment.
3860 The same refined dependency analysis also allows the type signatures of
3861 mutually-recursive functions to have different contexts, something that is illegal in
3862 Haskell 98 (Section 4.5.2, last sentence). With
3863 <option>-fglasgow-exts</option>
3864 GHC only insists that the type signatures of a <emphasis>refined</emphasis> group have identical
3865 type signatures; in practice this means that only variables bound by the same
3866 pattern binding must have the same context. For example, this is fine:
3868 f :: Eq a => a -> Bool
3869 f x = (x == x) || g True
3871 g :: Ord a => a -> Bool
3872 g y = (y <= y) || f True
3878 <!-- ==================== End of type system extensions ================= -->
3880 <!-- ====================== Generalised algebraic data types ======================= -->
3883 <title>Generalised Algebraic Data Types</title>
3885 <para>Generalised Algebraic Data Types (GADTs) generalise ordinary algebraic data types by allowing you
3886 to give the type signatures of constructors explicitly. For example:
3889 Lit :: Int -> Term Int
3890 Succ :: Term Int -> Term Int
3891 IsZero :: Term Int -> Term Bool
3892 If :: Term Bool -> Term a -> Term a -> Term a
3893 Pair :: Term a -> Term b -> Term (a,b)
3895 Notice that the return type of the constructors is not always <literal>Term a</literal>, as is the
3896 case with ordinary vanilla data types. Now we can write a well-typed <literal>eval</literal> function
3897 for these <literal>Terms</literal>:
3901 eval (Succ t) = 1 + eval t
3902 eval (IsZero t) = eval t == 0
3903 eval (If b e1 e2) = if eval b then eval e1 else eval e2
3904 eval (Pair e1 e2) = (eval e1, eval e2)
3906 These and many other examples are given in papers by Hongwei Xi, and Tim Sheard.
3908 <para> The extensions to GHC are these:
3911 Data type declarations have a 'where' form, as exemplified above. The type signature of
3912 each constructor is independent, and is implicitly universally quantified as usual. Unlike a normal
3913 Haskell data type declaration, the type variable(s) in the "<literal>data Term a where</literal>" header
3914 have no scope. Indeed, one can write a kind signature instead:
3916 data Term :: * -> * where ...
3918 or even a mixture of the two:
3920 data Foo a :: (* -> *) -> * where ...
3922 The type variables (if given) may be explicitly kinded, so we could also write the header for <literal>Foo</literal>
3925 data Foo a (b :: * -> *) where ...
3930 There are no restrictions on the type of the data constructor, except that the result
3931 type must begin with the type constructor being defined. For example, in the <literal>Term</literal> data
3932 type above, the type of each constructor must end with <literal> ... -> Term ...</literal>.
3936 You can use record syntax on a GADT-style data type declaration:
3940 Lit { val :: Int } :: Term Int
3941 Succ { num :: Term Int } :: Term Int
3942 Pred { num :: Term Int } :: Term Int
3943 IsZero { arg :: Term Int } :: Term Bool
3944 Pair { arg1 :: Term a
3947 If { cnd :: Term Bool
3952 For every constructor that has a field <literal>f</literal>, (a) the type of
3953 field <literal>f</literal> must be the same; and (b) the
3954 result type of the constructor must be the same; both modulo alpha conversion.
3955 Hence, in our example, we cannot merge the <literal>num</literal> and <literal>arg</literal>
3957 single name. Although their field types are both <literal>Term Int</literal>,
3958 their selector functions actually have different types:
3961 num :: Term Int -> Term Int
3962 arg :: Term Bool -> Term Int
3965 At the moment, record updates are not yet possible with GADT, so support is
3966 limited to record construction, selection and pattern matching:
3969 someTerm :: Term Bool
3970 someTerm = IsZero { arg = Succ { num = Lit { val = 0 } } }
3973 eval Lit { val = i } = i
3974 eval Succ { num = t } = eval t + 1
3975 eval Pred { num = t } = eval t - 1
3976 eval IsZero { arg = t } = eval t == 0
3977 eval Pair { arg1 = t1, arg2 = t2 } = (eval t1, eval t2)
3978 eval t@If{} = if eval (cnd t) then eval (tru t) else eval (fls t)
3984 You can use strictness annotations, in the obvious places
3985 in the constructor type:
3988 Lit :: !Int -> Term Int
3989 If :: Term Bool -> !(Term a) -> !(Term a) -> Term a
3990 Pair :: Term a -> Term b -> Term (a,b)
3995 You can use a <literal>deriving</literal> clause on a GADT-style data type
3996 declaration, but only if the data type could also have been declared in
3997 Haskell-98 syntax. For example, these two declarations are equivalent
3999 data Maybe1 a where {
4000 Nothing1 :: Maybe a ;
4001 Just1 :: a -> Maybe a
4002 } deriving( Eq, Ord )
4004 data Maybe2 a = Nothing2 | Just2 a
4007 This simply allows you to declare a vanilla Haskell-98 data type using the
4008 <literal>where</literal> form without losing the <literal>deriving</literal> clause.
4012 Pattern matching causes type refinement. For example, in the right hand side of the equation
4017 the type <literal>a</literal> is refined to <literal>Int</literal>. (That's the whole point!)
4018 A precise specification of the type rules is beyond what this user manual aspires to, but there is a paper
4019 about the ideas: "Wobbly types: practical type inference for generalised algebraic data types", on Simon PJ's home page.</para>
4021 <para> The general principle is this: <emphasis>type refinement is only carried out based on user-supplied type annotations</emphasis>.
4022 So if no type signature is supplied for <literal>eval</literal>, no type refinement happens, and lots of obscure error messages will
4023 occur. However, the refinement is quite general. For example, if we had:
4025 eval :: Term a -> a -> a
4026 eval (Lit i) j = i+j
4028 the pattern match causes the type <literal>a</literal> to be refined to <literal>Int</literal> (because of the type
4029 of the constructor <literal>Lit</literal>, and that refinement also applies to the type of <literal>j</literal>, and
4030 the result type of the <literal>case</literal> expression. Hence the addition <literal>i+j</literal> is legal.
4036 <para>Notice that GADTs generalise existential types. For example, these two declarations are equivalent:
4038 data T a = forall b. MkT b (b->a)
4039 data T' a where { MKT :: b -> (b->a) -> T' a }
4044 <!-- ====================== End of Generalised algebraic data types ======================= -->
4046 <!-- ====================== TEMPLATE HASKELL ======================= -->
4048 <sect1 id="template-haskell">
4049 <title>Template Haskell</title>
4051 <para>Template Haskell allows you to do compile-time meta-programming in Haskell. There is a "home page" for
4052 Template Haskell at <ulink url="http://www.haskell.org/th/">
4053 http://www.haskell.org/th/</ulink>, while
4055 the main technical innovations is discussed in "<ulink
4056 url="http://research.microsoft.com/~simonpj/papers/meta-haskell">
4057 Template Meta-programming for Haskell</ulink>" (Proc Haskell Workshop 2002).
4058 The details of the Template Haskell design are still in flux. Make sure you
4059 consult the <ulink url="http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/latest/html/libraries/index.html">online library reference material</ulink>
4060 (search for the type ExpQ).
4061 [Temporary: many changes to the original design are described in
4062 <ulink url="http://research.microsoft.com/~simonpj/tmp/notes2.ps">"http://research.microsoft.com/~simonpj/tmp/notes2.ps"</ulink>.
4063 Not all of these changes are in GHC 6.2.]
4066 <para> The first example from that paper is set out below as a worked example to help get you started.
4070 The documentation here describes the realisation in GHC. (It's rather sketchy just now;
4071 Tim Sheard is going to expand it.)
4075 <title>Syntax</title>
4077 <para> Template Haskell has the following new syntactic
4078 constructions. You need to use the flag
4079 <option>-fth</option><indexterm><primary><option>-fth</option></primary>
4080 </indexterm>to switch these syntactic extensions on
4081 (<option>-fth</option> is currently implied by
4082 <option>-fglasgow-exts</option>, but you are encouraged to
4083 specify it explicitly).</para>
4087 A splice is written <literal>$x</literal>, where <literal>x</literal> is an
4088 identifier, or <literal>$(...)</literal>, where the "..." is an arbitrary expression.
4089 There must be no space between the "$" and the identifier or parenthesis. This use
4090 of "$" overrides its meaning as an infix operator, just as "M.x" overrides the meaning
4091 of "." as an infix operator. If you want the infix operator, put spaces around it.
4093 <para> A splice can occur in place of
4095 <listitem><para> an expression; the spliced expression must
4096 have type <literal>Q Exp</literal></para></listitem>
4097 <listitem><para> a list of top-level declarations; ; the spliced expression must have type <literal>Q [Dec]</literal></para></listitem>
4098 <listitem><para> [Planned, but not implemented yet.] a
4099 type; the spliced expression must have type <literal>Q Typ</literal>.</para></listitem>
4101 (Note that the syntax for a declaration splice uses "<literal>$</literal>" not "<literal>splice</literal>" as in
4102 the paper. Also the type of the enclosed expression must be <literal>Q [Dec]</literal>, not <literal>[Q Dec]</literal>
4108 A expression quotation is written in Oxford brackets, thus:
4110 <listitem><para> <literal>[| ... |]</literal>, where the "..." is an expression;
4111 the quotation has type <literal>Expr</literal>.</para></listitem>
4112 <listitem><para> <literal>[d| ... |]</literal>, where the "..." is a list of top-level declarations;
4113 the quotation has type <literal>Q [Dec]</literal>.</para></listitem>
4114 <listitem><para> [Planned, but not implemented yet.] <literal>[t| ... |]</literal>, where the "..." is a type;
4115 the quotation has type <literal>Type</literal>.</para></listitem>
4116 </itemizedlist></para></listitem>
4119 Reification is written thus:
4121 <listitem><para> <literal>reifyDecl T</literal>, where <literal>T</literal> is a type constructor; this expression
4122 has type <literal>Dec</literal>. </para></listitem>
4123 <listitem><para> <literal>reifyDecl C</literal>, where <literal>C</literal> is a class; has type <literal>Dec</literal>.</para></listitem>
4124 <listitem><para> <literal>reifyType f</literal>, where <literal>f</literal> is an identifier; has type <literal>Typ</literal>.</para></listitem>
4125 <listitem><para> Still to come: fixities </para></listitem>
4127 </itemizedlist></para>
4134 <sect2> <title> Using Template Haskell </title>
4138 The data types and monadic constructor functions for Template Haskell are in the library
4139 <literal>Language.Haskell.THSyntax</literal>.
4143 You can only run a function at compile time if it is imported from another module. That is,
4144 you can't define a function in a module, and call it from within a splice in the same module.
4145 (It would make sense to do so, but it's hard to implement.)
4149 The flag <literal>-ddump-splices</literal> shows the expansion of all top-level splices as they happen.
4152 If you are building GHC from source, you need at least a stage-2 bootstrap compiler to
4153 run Template Haskell. A stage-1 compiler will reject the TH constructs. Reason: TH
4154 compiles and runs a program, and then looks at the result. So it's important that
4155 the program it compiles produces results whose representations are identical to
4156 those of the compiler itself.
4160 <para> Template Haskell works in any mode (<literal>--make</literal>, <literal>--interactive</literal>,
4161 or file-at-a-time). There used to be a restriction to the former two, but that restriction
4166 <sect2> <title> A Template Haskell Worked Example </title>
4167 <para>To help you get over the confidence barrier, try out this skeletal worked example.
4168 First cut and paste the two modules below into "Main.hs" and "Printf.hs":</para>
4175 -- Import our template "pr"
4176 import Printf ( pr )
4178 -- The splice operator $ takes the Haskell source code
4179 -- generated at compile time by "pr" and splices it into
4180 -- the argument of "putStrLn".
4181 main = putStrLn ( $(pr "Hello") )
4187 -- Skeletal printf from the paper.
4188 -- It needs to be in a separate module to the one where
4189 -- you intend to use it.
4191 -- Import some Template Haskell syntax
4192 import Language.Haskell.TH
4194 -- Describe a format string
4195 data Format = D | S | L String
4197 -- Parse a format string. This is left largely to you
4198 -- as we are here interested in building our first ever
4199 -- Template Haskell program and not in building printf.
4200 parse :: String -> [Format]
4203 -- Generate Haskell source code from a parsed representation
4204 -- of the format string. This code will be spliced into
4205 -- the module which calls "pr", at compile time.
4206 gen :: [Format] -> ExpQ
4207 gen [D] = [| \n -> show n |]
4208 gen [S] = [| \s -> s |]
4209 gen [L s] = stringE s
4211 -- Here we generate the Haskell code for the splice
4212 -- from an input format string.
4213 pr :: String -> ExpQ
4214 pr s = gen (parse s)
4217 <para>Now run the compiler (here we are a Cygwin prompt on Windows):
4220 $ ghc --make -fth main.hs -o main.exe
4223 <para>Run "main.exe" and here is your output:</para>
4234 <!-- ===================== Arrow notation =================== -->
4236 <sect1 id="arrow-notation">
4237 <title>Arrow notation
4240 <para>Arrows are a generalization of monads introduced by John Hughes.
4241 For more details, see
4246 “Generalising Monads to Arrows”,
4247 John Hughes, in <citetitle>Science of Computer Programming</citetitle> 37,
4248 pp67–111, May 2000.
4254 “<ulink url="http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/~ross/papers/notation.html">A New Notation for Arrows</ulink>”,
4255 Ross Paterson, in <citetitle>ICFP</citetitle>, Sep 2001.
4261 “<ulink url="http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/~ross/papers/fop.html">Arrows and Computation</ulink>”,
4262 Ross Paterson, in <citetitle>The Fun of Programming</citetitle>,
4268 and the arrows web page at
4269 <ulink url="http://www.haskell.org/arrows/"><literal>http://www.haskell.org/arrows/</literal></ulink>.
4270 With the <option>-farrows</option> flag, GHC supports the arrow
4271 notation described in the second of these papers.
4272 What follows is a brief introduction to the notation;
4273 it won't make much sense unless you've read Hughes's paper.
4274 This notation is translated to ordinary Haskell,
4275 using combinators from the
4276 <ulink url="../libraries/base/Control-Arrow.html"><literal>Control.Arrow</literal></ulink>
4280 <para>The extension adds a new kind of expression for defining arrows:
4282 <replaceable>exp</replaceable><superscript>10</superscript> ::= ...
4283 | proc <replaceable>apat</replaceable> -> <replaceable>cmd</replaceable>
4285 where <literal>proc</literal> is a new keyword.
4286 The variables of the pattern are bound in the body of the
4287 <literal>proc</literal>-expression,
4288 which is a new sort of thing called a <firstterm>command</firstterm>.
4289 The syntax of commands is as follows:
4291 <replaceable>cmd</replaceable> ::= <replaceable>exp</replaceable><superscript>10</superscript> -< <replaceable>exp</replaceable>
4292 | <replaceable>exp</replaceable><superscript>10</superscript> -<< <replaceable>exp</replaceable>
4293 | <replaceable>cmd</replaceable><superscript>0</superscript>
4295 with <replaceable>cmd</replaceable><superscript>0</superscript> up to
4296 <replaceable>cmd</replaceable><superscript>9</superscript> defined using
4297 infix operators as for expressions, and
4299 <replaceable>cmd</replaceable><superscript>10</superscript> ::= \ <replaceable>apat</replaceable> ... <replaceable>apat</replaceable> -> <replaceable>cmd</replaceable>
4300 | let <replaceable>decls</replaceable> in <replaceable>cmd</replaceable>
4301 | if <replaceable>exp</replaceable> then <replaceable>cmd</replaceable> else <replaceable>cmd</replaceable>
4302 | case <replaceable>exp</replaceable> of { <replaceable>calts</replaceable> }
4303 | do { <replaceable>cstmt</replaceable> ; ... <replaceable>cstmt</replaceable> ; <replaceable>cmd</replaceable> }
4304 | <replaceable>fcmd</replaceable>
4306 <replaceable>fcmd</replaceable> ::= <replaceable>fcmd</replaceable> <replaceable>aexp</replaceable>
4307 | ( <replaceable>cmd</replaceable> )
4308 | (| <replaceable>aexp</replaceable> <replaceable>cmd</replaceable> ... <replaceable>cmd</replaceable> |)
4310 <replaceable>cstmt</replaceable> ::= let <replaceable>decls</replaceable>
4311 | <replaceable>pat</replaceable> <- <replaceable>cmd</replaceable>
4312 | rec { <replaceable>cstmt</replaceable> ; ... <replaceable>cstmt</replaceable> [;] }
4313 | <replaceable>cmd</replaceable>
4315 where <replaceable>calts</replaceable> are like <replaceable>alts</replaceable>
4316 except that the bodies are commands instead of expressions.
4320 Commands produce values, but (like monadic computations)
4321 may yield more than one value,
4322 or none, and may do other things as well.
4323 For the most part, familiarity with monadic notation is a good guide to
4325 However the values of expressions, even monadic ones,
4326 are determined by the values of the variables they contain;
4327 this is not necessarily the case for commands.
4331 A simple example of the new notation is the expression
4333 proc x -> f -< x+1
4335 We call this a <firstterm>procedure</firstterm> or
4336 <firstterm>arrow abstraction</firstterm>.
4337 As with a lambda expression, the variable <literal>x</literal>
4338 is a new variable bound within the <literal>proc</literal>-expression.
4339 It refers to the input to the arrow.
4340 In the above example, <literal>-<</literal> is not an identifier but an
4341 new reserved symbol used for building commands from an expression of arrow
4342 type and an expression to be fed as input to that arrow.
4343 (The weird look will make more sense later.)
4344 It may be read as analogue of application for arrows.
4345 The above example is equivalent to the Haskell expression
4347 arr (\ x -> x+1) >>> f
4349 That would make no sense if the expression to the left of
4350 <literal>-<</literal> involves the bound variable <literal>x</literal>.
4351 More generally, the expression to the left of <literal>-<</literal>
4352 may not involve any <firstterm>local variable</firstterm>,
4353 i.e. a variable bound in the current arrow abstraction.
4354 For such a situation there is a variant <literal>-<<</literal>, as in
4356 proc x -> f x -<< x+1
4358 which is equivalent to
4360 arr (\ x -> (f x, x+1)) >>> app
4362 so in this case the arrow must belong to the <literal>ArrowApply</literal>
4364 Such an arrow is equivalent to a monad, so if you're using this form
4365 you may find a monadic formulation more convenient.
4369 <title>do-notation for commands</title>
4372 Another form of command is a form of <literal>do</literal>-notation.
4373 For example, you can write
4382 You can read this much like ordinary <literal>do</literal>-notation,
4383 but with commands in place of monadic expressions.
4384 The first line sends the value of <literal>x+1</literal> as an input to
4385 the arrow <literal>f</literal>, and matches its output against
4386 <literal>y</literal>.
4387 In the next line, the output is discarded.
4388 The arrow <function>returnA</function> is defined in the
4389 <ulink url="../libraries/base/Control-Arrow.html"><literal>Control.Arrow</literal></ulink>
4390 module as <literal>arr id</literal>.
4391 The above example is treated as an abbreviation for
4393 arr (\ x -> (x, x)) >>>
4394 first (arr (\ x -> x+1) >>> f) >>>
4395 arr (\ (y, x) -> (y, (x, y))) >>>
4396 first (arr (\ y -> 2*y) >>> g) >>>
4398 arr (\ (x, y) -> let z = x+y in ((x, z), z)) >>>
4399 first (arr (\ (x, z) -> x*z) >>> h) >>>
4400 arr (\ (t, z) -> t+z) >>>
4403 Note that variables not used later in the composition are projected out.
4404 After simplification using rewrite rules (see <xref linkend="rewrite-rules"/>)
4406 <ulink url="../libraries/base/Control-Arrow.html"><literal>Control.Arrow</literal></ulink>
4407 module, this reduces to
4409 arr (\ x -> (x+1, x)) >>>
4411 arr (\ (y, x) -> (2*y, (x, y))) >>>
4413 arr (\ (_, (x, y)) -> let z = x+y in (x*z, z)) >>>
4415 arr (\ (t, z) -> t+z)
4417 which is what you might have written by hand.
4418 With arrow notation, GHC keeps track of all those tuples of variables for you.
4422 Note that although the above translation suggests that
4423 <literal>let</literal>-bound variables like <literal>z</literal> must be
4424 monomorphic, the actual translation produces Core,
4425 so polymorphic variables are allowed.
4429 It's also possible to have mutually recursive bindings,
4430 using the new <literal>rec</literal> keyword, as in the following example:
4432 counter :: ArrowCircuit a => a Bool Int
4433 counter = proc reset -> do
4434 rec output <- returnA -< if reset then 0 else next
4435 next <- delay 0 -< output+1
4436 returnA -< output
4438 The translation of such forms uses the <function>loop</function> combinator,
4439 so the arrow concerned must belong to the <literal>ArrowLoop</literal> class.
4445 <title>Conditional commands</title>
4448 In the previous example, we used a conditional expression to construct the
4450 Sometimes we want to conditionally execute different commands, as in
4457 which is translated to
4459 arr (\ (x,y) -> if f x y then Left x else Right y) >>>
4460 (arr (\x -> x+1) >>> f) ||| (arr (\y -> y+2) >>> g)
4462 Since the translation uses <function>|||</function>,
4463 the arrow concerned must belong to the <literal>ArrowChoice</literal> class.
4467 There are also <literal>case</literal> commands, like
4473 y <- h -< (x1, x2)
4477 The syntax is the same as for <literal>case</literal> expressions,
4478 except that the bodies of the alternatives are commands rather than expressions.
4479 The translation is similar to that of <literal>if</literal> commands.
4485 <title>Defining your own control structures</title>
4488 As we're seen, arrow notation provides constructs,
4489 modelled on those for expressions,
4490 for sequencing, value recursion and conditionals.
4491 But suitable combinators,
4492 which you can define in ordinary Haskell,
4493 may also be used to build new commands out of existing ones.
4494 The basic idea is that a command defines an arrow from environments to values.
4495 These environments assign values to the free local variables of the command.
4496 Thus combinators that produce arrows from arrows
4497 may also be used to build commands from commands.
4498 For example, the <literal>ArrowChoice</literal> class includes a combinator
4500 ArrowChoice a => (<+>) :: a e c -> a e c -> a e c
4502 so we can use it to build commands:
4504 expr' = proc x -> do
4507 symbol Plus -< ()
4508 y <- term -< ()
4511 symbol Minus -< ()
4512 y <- term -< ()
4515 (The <literal>do</literal> on the first line is needed to prevent the first
4516 <literal><+> ...</literal> from being interpreted as part of the
4517 expression on the previous line.)
4518 This is equivalent to
4520 expr' = (proc x -> returnA -< x)
4521 <+> (proc x -> do
4522 symbol Plus -< ()
4523 y <- term -< ()
4525 <+> (proc x -> do
4526 symbol Minus -< ()
4527 y <- term -< ()
4530 It is essential that this operator be polymorphic in <literal>e</literal>
4531 (representing the environment input to the command
4532 and thence to its subcommands)
4533 and satisfy the corresponding naturality property
4535 arr k >>> (f <+> g) = (arr k >>> f) <+> (arr k >>> g)
4537 at least for strict <literal>k</literal>.
4538 (This should be automatic if you're not using <function>seq</function>.)
4539 This ensures that environments seen by the subcommands are environments
4540 of the whole command,
4541 and also allows the translation to safely trim these environments.
4542 The operator must also not use any variable defined within the current
4547 We could define our own operator
4549 untilA :: ArrowChoice a => a e () -> a e Bool -> a e ()
4550 untilA body cond = proc x ->
4551 if cond x then returnA -< ()
4554 untilA body cond -< x
4556 and use it in the same way.
4557 Of course this infix syntax only makes sense for binary operators;
4558 there is also a more general syntax involving special brackets:
4562 (|untilA (increment -< x+y) (within 0.5 -< x)|)
4569 <title>Primitive constructs</title>
4572 Some operators will need to pass additional inputs to their subcommands.
4573 For example, in an arrow type supporting exceptions,
4574 the operator that attaches an exception handler will wish to pass the
4575 exception that occurred to the handler.
4576 Such an operator might have a type
4578 handleA :: ... => a e c -> a (e,Ex) c -> a e c
4580 where <literal>Ex</literal> is the type of exceptions handled.
4581 You could then use this with arrow notation by writing a command
4583 body `handleA` \ ex -> handler
4585 so that if an exception is raised in the command <literal>body</literal>,
4586 the variable <literal>ex</literal> is bound to the value of the exception
4587 and the command <literal>handler</literal>,
4588 which typically refers to <literal>ex</literal>, is entered.
4589 Though the syntax here looks like a functional lambda,
4590 we are talking about commands, and something different is going on.
4591 The input to the arrow represented by a command consists of values for
4592 the free local variables in the command, plus a stack of anonymous values.
4593 In all the prior examples, this stack was empty.
4594 In the second argument to <function>handleA</function>,
4595 this stack consists of one value, the value of the exception.
4596 The command form of lambda merely gives this value a name.
4601 the values on the stack are paired to the right of the environment.
4602 So operators like <function>handleA</function> that pass
4603 extra inputs to their subcommands can be designed for use with the notation
4604 by pairing the values with the environment in this way.
4605 More precisely, the type of each argument of the operator (and its result)
4606 should have the form
4608 a (...(e,t1), ... tn) t
4610 where <replaceable>e</replaceable> is a polymorphic variable
4611 (representing the environment)
4612 and <replaceable>ti</replaceable> are the types of the values on the stack,
4613 with <replaceable>t1</replaceable> being the <quote>top</quote>.
4614 The polymorphic variable <replaceable>e</replaceable> must not occur in
4615 <replaceable>a</replaceable>, <replaceable>ti</replaceable> or
4616 <replaceable>t</replaceable>.
4617 However the arrows involved need not be the same.
4618 Here are some more examples of suitable operators:
4620 bracketA :: ... => a e b -> a (e,b) c -> a (e,c) d -> a e d
4621 runReader :: ... => a e c -> a' (e,State) c
4622 runState :: ... => a e c -> a' (e,State) (c,State)
4624 We can supply the extra input required by commands built with the last two
4625 by applying them to ordinary expressions, as in
4629 (|runReader (do { ... })|) s
4631 which adds <literal>s</literal> to the stack of inputs to the command
4632 built using <function>runReader</function>.
4636 The command versions of lambda abstraction and application are analogous to
4637 the expression versions.
4638 In particular, the beta and eta rules describe equivalences of commands.
4639 These three features (operators, lambda abstraction and application)
4640 are the core of the notation; everything else can be built using them,
4641 though the results would be somewhat clumsy.
4642 For example, we could simulate <literal>do</literal>-notation by defining
4644 bind :: Arrow a => a e b -> a (e,b) c -> a e c
4645 u `bind` f = returnA &&& u >>> f
4647 bind_ :: Arrow a => a e b -> a e c -> a e c
4648 u `bind_` f = u `bind` (arr fst >>> f)
4650 We could simulate <literal>if</literal> by defining
4652 cond :: ArrowChoice a => a e b -> a e b -> a (e,Bool) b
4653 cond f g = arr (\ (e,b) -> if b then Left e else Right e) >>> f ||| g
4660 <title>Differences with the paper</title>
4665 <para>Instead of a single form of arrow application (arrow tail) with two
4666 translations, the implementation provides two forms
4667 <quote><literal>-<</literal></quote> (first-order)
4668 and <quote><literal>-<<</literal></quote> (higher-order).
4673 <para>User-defined operators are flagged with banana brackets instead of
4674 a new <literal>form</literal> keyword.
4683 <title>Portability</title>
4686 Although only GHC implements arrow notation directly,
4687 there is also a preprocessor
4689 <ulink url="http://www.haskell.org/arrows/">arrows web page</ulink>)
4690 that translates arrow notation into Haskell 98
4691 for use with other Haskell systems.
4692 You would still want to check arrow programs with GHC;
4693 tracing type errors in the preprocessor output is not easy.
4694 Modules intended for both GHC and the preprocessor must observe some
4695 additional restrictions:
4700 The module must import
4701 <ulink url="../libraries/base/Control-Arrow.html"><literal>Control.Arrow</literal></ulink>.
4707 The preprocessor cannot cope with other Haskell extensions.
4708 These would have to go in separate modules.
4714 Because the preprocessor targets Haskell (rather than Core),
4715 <literal>let</literal>-bound variables are monomorphic.
4726 <!-- ==================== ASSERTIONS ================= -->
4728 <sect1 id="sec-assertions">
4730 <indexterm><primary>Assertions</primary></indexterm>
4734 If you want to make use of assertions in your standard Haskell code, you
4735 could define a function like the following:
4741 assert :: Bool -> a -> a
4742 assert False x = error "assertion failed!"
4749 which works, but gives you back a less than useful error message --
4750 an assertion failed, but which and where?
4754 One way out is to define an extended <function>assert</function> function which also
4755 takes a descriptive string to include in the error message and
4756 perhaps combine this with the use of a pre-processor which inserts
4757 the source location where <function>assert</function> was used.
4761 Ghc offers a helping hand here, doing all of this for you. For every
4762 use of <function>assert</function> in the user's source:
4768 kelvinToC :: Double -> Double
4769 kelvinToC k = assert (k >= 0.0) (k+273.15)
4775 Ghc will rewrite this to also include the source location where the
4782 assert pred val ==> assertError "Main.hs|15" pred val
4788 The rewrite is only performed by the compiler when it spots
4789 applications of <function>Control.Exception.assert</function>, so you
4790 can still define and use your own versions of
4791 <function>assert</function>, should you so wish. If not, import
4792 <literal>Control.Exception</literal> to make use
4793 <function>assert</function> in your code.
4797 GHC ignores assertions when optimisation is turned on with the
4798 <option>-O</option><indexterm><primary><option>-O</option></primary></indexterm> flag. That is, expressions of the form
4799 <literal>assert pred e</literal> will be rewritten to
4800 <literal>e</literal>. You can also disable assertions using the
4801 <option>-fignore-asserts</option>
4802 option<indexterm><primary><option>-fignore-asserts</option></primary>
4803 </indexterm>.</para>
4806 Assertion failures can be caught, see the documentation for the
4807 <literal>Control.Exception</literal> library for the details.
4813 <!-- =============================== PRAGMAS =========================== -->
4815 <sect1 id="pragmas">
4816 <title>Pragmas</title>
4818 <indexterm><primary>pragma</primary></indexterm>
4820 <para>GHC supports several pragmas, or instructions to the
4821 compiler placed in the source code. Pragmas don't normally affect
4822 the meaning of the program, but they might affect the efficiency
4823 of the generated code.</para>
4825 <para>Pragmas all take the form
4827 <literal>{-# <replaceable>word</replaceable> ... #-}</literal>
4829 where <replaceable>word</replaceable> indicates the type of
4830 pragma, and is followed optionally by information specific to that
4831 type of pragma. Case is ignored in
4832 <replaceable>word</replaceable>. The various values for
4833 <replaceable>word</replaceable> that GHC understands are described
4834 in the following sections; any pragma encountered with an
4835 unrecognised <replaceable>word</replaceable> is (silently)
4838 <sect2 id="deprecated-pragma">
4839 <title>DEPRECATED pragma</title>
4840 <indexterm><primary>DEPRECATED</primary>
4843 <para>The DEPRECATED pragma lets you specify that a particular
4844 function, class, or type, is deprecated. There are two
4849 <para>You can deprecate an entire module thus:</para>
4851 module Wibble {-# DEPRECATED "Use Wobble instead" #-} where
4854 <para>When you compile any module that import
4855 <literal>Wibble</literal>, GHC will print the specified
4860 <para>You can deprecate a function, class, type, or data constructor, with the
4861 following top-level declaration:</para>
4863 {-# DEPRECATED f, C, T "Don't use these" #-}
4865 <para>When you compile any module that imports and uses any
4866 of the specified entities, GHC will print the specified
4868 <para> You can only depecate entities declared at top level in the module
4869 being compiled, and you can only use unqualified names in the list of
4870 entities being deprecated. A capitalised name, such as <literal>T</literal>
4871 refers to <emphasis>either</emphasis> the type constructor <literal>T</literal>
4872 <emphasis>or</emphasis> the data constructor <literal>T</literal>, or both if
4873 both are in scope. If both are in scope, there is currently no way to deprecate
4874 one without the other (c.f. fixities <xref linkend="infix-tycons"/>).</para>
4877 Any use of the deprecated item, or of anything from a deprecated
4878 module, will be flagged with an appropriate message. However,
4879 deprecations are not reported for
4880 (a) uses of a deprecated function within its defining module, and
4881 (b) uses of a deprecated function in an export list.
4882 The latter reduces spurious complaints within a library
4883 in which one module gathers together and re-exports
4884 the exports of several others.
4886 <para>You can suppress the warnings with the flag
4887 <option>-fno-warn-deprecations</option>.</para>
4890 <sect2 id="include-pragma">
4891 <title>INCLUDE pragma</title>
4893 <para>The <literal>INCLUDE</literal> pragma is for specifying the names
4894 of C header files that should be <literal>#include</literal>'d into
4895 the C source code generated by the compiler for the current module (if
4896 compiling via C). For example:</para>
4899 {-# INCLUDE "foo.h" #-}
4900 {-# INCLUDE <stdio.h> #-}</programlisting>
4902 <para>The <literal>INCLUDE</literal> pragma(s) must appear at the top of
4903 your source file with any <literal>OPTIONS_GHC</literal>
4906 <para>An <literal>INCLUDE</literal> pragma is the preferred alternative
4907 to the <option>-#include</option> option (<xref
4908 linkend="options-C-compiler" />), because the
4909 <literal>INCLUDE</literal> pragma is understood by other
4910 compilers. Yet another alternative is to add the include file to each
4911 <literal>foreign import</literal> declaration in your code, but we
4912 don't recommend using this approach with GHC.</para>
4915 <sect2 id="inline-noinline-pragma">
4916 <title>INLINE and NOINLINE pragmas</title>
4918 <para>These pragmas control the inlining of function
4921 <sect3 id="inline-pragma">
4922 <title>INLINE pragma</title>
4923 <indexterm><primary>INLINE</primary></indexterm>
4925 <para>GHC (with <option>-O</option>, as always) tries to
4926 inline (or “unfold”) functions/values that are
4927 “small enough,” thus avoiding the call overhead
4928 and possibly exposing other more-wonderful optimisations.
4929 Normally, if GHC decides a function is “too
4930 expensive” to inline, it will not do so, nor will it
4931 export that unfolding for other modules to use.</para>
4933 <para>The sledgehammer you can bring to bear is the
4934 <literal>INLINE</literal><indexterm><primary>INLINE
4935 pragma</primary></indexterm> pragma, used thusly:</para>
4938 key_function :: Int -> String -> (Bool, Double)
4940 #ifdef __GLASGOW_HASKELL__
4941 {-# INLINE key_function #-}
4945 <para>(You don't need to do the C pre-processor carry-on
4946 unless you're going to stick the code through HBC—it
4947 doesn't like <literal>INLINE</literal> pragmas.)</para>
4949 <para>The major effect of an <literal>INLINE</literal> pragma
4950 is to declare a function's “cost” to be very low.
4951 The normal unfolding machinery will then be very keen to
4954 <para>Syntactically, an <literal>INLINE</literal> pragma for a
4955 function can be put anywhere its type signature could be
4958 <para><literal>INLINE</literal> pragmas are a particularly
4960 <literal>then</literal>/<literal>return</literal> (or
4961 <literal>bind</literal>/<literal>unit</literal>) functions in
4962 a monad. For example, in GHC's own
4963 <literal>UniqueSupply</literal> monad code, we have:</para>
4966 #ifdef __GLASGOW_HASKELL__
4967 {-# INLINE thenUs #-}
4968 {-# INLINE returnUs #-}
4972 <para>See also the <literal>NOINLINE</literal> pragma (<xref
4973 linkend="noinline-pragma"/>).</para>
4976 <sect3 id="noinline-pragma">
4977 <title>NOINLINE pragma</title>
4979 <indexterm><primary>NOINLINE</primary></indexterm>
4980 <indexterm><primary>NOTINLINE</primary></indexterm>
4982 <para>The <literal>NOINLINE</literal> pragma does exactly what
4983 you'd expect: it stops the named function from being inlined
4984 by the compiler. You shouldn't ever need to do this, unless
4985 you're very cautious about code size.</para>
4987 <para><literal>NOTINLINE</literal> is a synonym for
4988 <literal>NOINLINE</literal> (<literal>NOINLINE</literal> is
4989 specified by Haskell 98 as the standard way to disable
4990 inlining, so it should be used if you want your code to be
4994 <sect3 id="phase-control">
4995 <title>Phase control</title>
4997 <para> Sometimes you want to control exactly when in GHC's
4998 pipeline the INLINE pragma is switched on. Inlining happens
4999 only during runs of the <emphasis>simplifier</emphasis>. Each
5000 run of the simplifier has a different <emphasis>phase
5001 number</emphasis>; the phase number decreases towards zero.
5002 If you use <option>-dverbose-core2core</option> you'll see the
5003 sequence of phase numbers for successive runs of the
5004 simplifier. In an INLINE pragma you can optionally specify a
5005 phase number, thus:</para>
5009 <para>You can say "inline <literal>f</literal> in Phase 2
5010 and all subsequent phases":
5012 {-# INLINE [2] f #-}
5018 <para>You can say "inline <literal>g</literal> in all
5019 phases up to, but not including, Phase 3":
5021 {-# INLINE [~3] g #-}
5027 <para>If you omit the phase indicator, you mean "inline in
5032 <para>You can use a phase number on a NOINLINE pragma too:</para>
5036 <para>You can say "do not inline <literal>f</literal>
5037 until Phase 2; in Phase 2 and subsequently behave as if
5038 there was no pragma at all":
5040 {-# NOINLINE [2] f #-}
5046 <para>You can say "do not inline <literal>g</literal> in
5047 Phase 3 or any subsequent phase; before that, behave as if
5048 there was no pragma":
5050 {-# NOINLINE [~3] g #-}
5056 <para>If you omit the phase indicator, you mean "never
5057 inline this function".</para>
5061 <para>The same phase-numbering control is available for RULES
5062 (<xref linkend="rewrite-rules"/>).</para>
5066 <sect2 id="language-pragma">
5067 <title>LANGUAGE pragma</title>
5069 <indexterm><primary>LANGUAGE</primary><secondary>pragma</secondary></indexterm>
5070 <indexterm><primary>pragma</primary><secondary>LANGUAGE</secondary></indexterm>
5072 <para>This allows language extensions to be enabled in a portable way.
5073 It is the intention that all Haskell compilers support the
5074 <literal>LANGUAGE</literal> pragma with the same syntax, although not
5075 all extensions are supported by all compilers, of
5076 course. The <literal>LANGUAGE</literal> pragma should be used instead
5077 of <literal>OPTIONS_GHC</literal>, if possible.</para>
5079 <para>For example, to enable the FFI and preprocessing with CPP:</para>
5081 <programlisting>{-# LANGUAGE ForeignFunctionInterface, CPP #-}</programlisting>
5083 <para>Any extension from the <literal>Extension</literal> type defined in
5085 url="../libraries/Cabal/Language-Haskell-Extension.html"><literal>Language.Haskell.Extension</literal></ulink> may be used. GHC will report an error if any of the requested extensions are not supported.</para>
5089 <sect2 id="line-pragma">
5090 <title>LINE pragma</title>
5092 <indexterm><primary>LINE</primary><secondary>pragma</secondary></indexterm>
5093 <indexterm><primary>pragma</primary><secondary>LINE</secondary></indexterm>
5094 <para>This pragma is similar to C's <literal>#line</literal>
5095 pragma, and is mainly for use in automatically generated Haskell
5096 code. It lets you specify the line number and filename of the
5097 original code; for example</para>
5099 <programlisting>{-# LINE 42 "Foo.vhs" #-}</programlisting>
5101 <para>if you'd generated the current file from something called
5102 <filename>Foo.vhs</filename> and this line corresponds to line
5103 42 in the original. GHC will adjust its error messages to refer
5104 to the line/file named in the <literal>LINE</literal>
5108 <sect2 id="options-pragma">
5109 <title>OPTIONS_GHC pragma</title>
5110 <indexterm><primary>OPTIONS_GHC</primary>
5112 <indexterm><primary>pragma</primary><secondary>OPTIONS_GHC</secondary>
5115 <para>The <literal>OPTIONS_GHC</literal> pragma is used to specify
5116 additional options that are given to the compiler when compiling
5117 this source file. See <xref linkend="source-file-options"/> for
5120 <para>Previous versions of GHC accepted <literal>OPTIONS</literal> rather
5121 than <literal>OPTIONS_GHC</literal>, but that is now deprecated.</para>
5125 <title>RULES pragma</title>
5127 <para>The RULES pragma lets you specify rewrite rules. It is
5128 described in <xref linkend="rewrite-rules"/>.</para>
5131 <sect2 id="specialize-pragma">
5132 <title>SPECIALIZE pragma</title>
5134 <indexterm><primary>SPECIALIZE pragma</primary></indexterm>
5135 <indexterm><primary>pragma, SPECIALIZE</primary></indexterm>
5136 <indexterm><primary>overloading, death to</primary></indexterm>
5138 <para>(UK spelling also accepted.) For key overloaded
5139 functions, you can create extra versions (NB: more code space)
5140 specialised to particular types. Thus, if you have an
5141 overloaded function:</para>
5144 hammeredLookup :: Ord key => [(key, value)] -> key -> value
5147 <para>If it is heavily used on lists with
5148 <literal>Widget</literal> keys, you could specialise it as
5152 {-# SPECIALIZE hammeredLookup :: [(Widget, value)] -> Widget -> value #-}
5155 <para>A <literal>SPECIALIZE</literal> pragma for a function can
5156 be put anywhere its type signature could be put.</para>
5158 <para>A <literal>SPECIALIZE</literal> has the effect of generating
5159 (a) a specialised version of the function and (b) a rewrite rule
5160 (see <xref linkend="rewrite-rules"/>) that rewrites a call to the
5161 un-specialised function into a call to the specialised one.</para>
5163 <para>The type in a SPECIALIZE pragma can be any type that is less
5164 polymorphic than the type of the original function. In concrete terms,
5165 if the original function is <literal>f</literal> then the pragma
5167 {-# SPECIALIZE f :: <type> #-}
5169 is valid if and only if the defintion
5171 f_spec :: <type>
5174 is valid. Here are some examples (where we only give the type signature
5175 for the original function, not its code):
5177 f :: Eq a => a -> b -> b
5178 {-# SPECIALISE f :: Int -> b -> b #-}
5180 g :: (Eq a, Ix b) => a -> b -> b
5181 {-# SPECIALISE g :: (Eq a) => a -> Int -> Int #-}
5183 h :: Eq a => a -> a -> a
5184 {-# SPECIALISE h :: (Eq a) => [a] -> [a] -> [a] #-}
5186 The last of these examples will generate a
5187 RULE with a somewhat-complex left-hand side (try it yourself), so it might not fire very
5188 well. If you use this kind of specialisation, let us know how well it works.
5191 <para>A <literal>SPECIALIZE</literal> pragma can optionally be followed with a
5192 <literal>INLINE</literal> or <literal>NOINLINE</literal> pragma, optionally
5193 followed by a phase, as described in <xref linkend="inline-noinline-pragma"/>.
5194 The <literal>INLINE</literal> pragma affects the specialised verison of the
5195 function (only), and applies even if the function is recursive. The motivating
5198 -- A GADT for arrays with type-indexed representation
5200 ArrInt :: !Int -> ByteArray# -> Arr Int
5201 ArrPair :: !Int -> Arr e1 -> Arr e2 -> Arr (e1, e2)
5203 (!:) :: Arr e -> Int -> e
5204 {-# SPECIALISE INLINE (!:) :: Arr Int -> Int -> Int #-}
5205 {-# SPECIALISE INLINE (!:) :: Arr (a, b) -> Int -> (a, b) #-}
5206 (ArrInt _ ba) !: (I# i) = I# (indexIntArray# ba i)
5207 (ArrPair _ a1 a2) !: i = (a1 !: i, a2 !: i)
5209 Here, <literal>(!:)</literal> is a recursive function that indexes arrays
5210 of type <literal>Arr e</literal>. Consider a call to <literal>(!:)</literal>
5211 at type <literal>(Int,Int)</literal>. The second specialisation will fire, and
5212 the specialised function will be inlined. It has two calls to
5213 <literal>(!:)</literal>,
5214 both at type <literal>Int</literal>. Both these calls fire the first
5215 specialisation, whose body is also inlined. The result is a type-based
5216 unrolling of the indexing function.</para>
5217 <para>Warning: you can make GHC diverge by using <literal>SPECIALISE INLINE</literal>
5218 on an ordinarily-recursive function.</para>
5220 <para>Note: In earlier versions of GHC, it was possible to provide your own
5221 specialised function for a given type:
5224 {-# SPECIALIZE hammeredLookup :: [(Int, value)] -> Int -> value = intLookup #-}
5227 This feature has been removed, as it is now subsumed by the
5228 <literal>RULES</literal> pragma (see <xref linkend="rule-spec"/>).</para>
5232 <sect2 id="specialize-instance-pragma">
5233 <title>SPECIALIZE instance pragma
5237 <indexterm><primary>SPECIALIZE pragma</primary></indexterm>
5238 <indexterm><primary>overloading, death to</primary></indexterm>
5239 Same idea, except for instance declarations. For example:
5242 instance (Eq a) => Eq (Foo a) where {
5243 {-# SPECIALIZE instance Eq (Foo [(Int, Bar)]) #-}
5247 The pragma must occur inside the <literal>where</literal> part
5248 of the instance declaration.
5251 Compatible with HBC, by the way, except perhaps in the placement
5257 <sect2 id="unpack-pragma">
5258 <title>UNPACK pragma</title>
5260 <indexterm><primary>UNPACK</primary></indexterm>
5262 <para>The <literal>UNPACK</literal> indicates to the compiler
5263 that it should unpack the contents of a constructor field into
5264 the constructor itself, removing a level of indirection. For
5268 data T = T {-# UNPACK #-} !Float
5269 {-# UNPACK #-} !Float
5272 <para>will create a constructor <literal>T</literal> containing
5273 two unboxed floats. This may not always be an optimisation: if
5274 the <function>T</function> constructor is scrutinised and the
5275 floats passed to a non-strict function for example, they will
5276 have to be reboxed (this is done automatically by the
5279 <para>Unpacking constructor fields should only be used in
5280 conjunction with <option>-O</option>, in order to expose
5281 unfoldings to the compiler so the reboxing can be removed as
5282 often as possible. For example:</para>
5286 f (T f1 f2) = f1 + f2
5289 <para>The compiler will avoid reboxing <function>f1</function>
5290 and <function>f2</function> by inlining <function>+</function>
5291 on floats, but only when <option>-O</option> is on.</para>
5293 <para>Any single-constructor data is eligible for unpacking; for
5297 data T = T {-# UNPACK #-} !(Int,Int)
5300 <para>will store the two <literal>Int</literal>s directly in the
5301 <function>T</function> constructor, by flattening the pair.
5302 Multi-level unpacking is also supported:</para>
5305 data T = T {-# UNPACK #-} !S
5306 data S = S {-# UNPACK #-} !Int {-# UNPACK #-} !Int
5309 <para>will store two unboxed <literal>Int#</literal>s
5310 directly in the <function>T</function> constructor. The
5311 unpacker can see through newtypes, too.</para>
5313 <para>If a field cannot be unpacked, you will not get a warning,
5314 so it might be an idea to check the generated code with
5315 <option>-ddump-simpl</option>.</para>
5317 <para>See also the <option>-funbox-strict-fields</option> flag,
5318 which essentially has the effect of adding
5319 <literal>{-# UNPACK #-}</literal> to every strict
5320 constructor field.</para>
5325 <!-- ======================= REWRITE RULES ======================== -->
5327 <sect1 id="rewrite-rules">
5328 <title>Rewrite rules
5330 <indexterm><primary>RULES pragma</primary></indexterm>
5331 <indexterm><primary>pragma, RULES</primary></indexterm>
5332 <indexterm><primary>rewrite rules</primary></indexterm></title>
5335 The programmer can specify rewrite rules as part of the source program
5336 (in a pragma). GHC applies these rewrite rules wherever it can, provided (a)
5337 the <option>-O</option> flag (<xref linkend="options-optimise"/>) is on,
5338 and (b) the <option>-frules-off</option> flag
5339 (<xref linkend="options-f"/>) is not specified.
5347 "map/map" forall f g xs. map f (map g xs) = map (f.g) xs
5354 <title>Syntax</title>
5357 From a syntactic point of view:
5363 There may be zero or more rules in a <literal>RULES</literal> pragma.
5370 Each rule has a name, enclosed in double quotes. The name itself has
5371 no significance at all. It is only used when reporting how many times the rule fired.
5377 A rule may optionally have a phase-control number (see <xref linkend="phase-control"/>),
5378 immediately after the name of the rule. Thus:
5381 "map/map" [2] forall f g xs. map f (map g xs) = map (f.g) xs
5384 The "[2]" means that the rule is active in Phase 2 and subsequent phases. The inverse
5385 notation "[~2]" is also accepted, meaning that the rule is active up to, but not including,
5394 Layout applies in a <literal>RULES</literal> pragma. Currently no new indentation level
5395 is set, so you must lay out your rules starting in the same column as the
5396 enclosing definitions.
5403 Each variable mentioned in a rule must either be in scope (e.g. <function>map</function>),
5404 or bound by the <literal>forall</literal> (e.g. <function>f</function>, <function>g</function>, <function>xs</function>). The variables bound by
5405 the <literal>forall</literal> are called the <emphasis>pattern</emphasis> variables. They are separated
5406 by spaces, just like in a type <literal>forall</literal>.
5412 A pattern variable may optionally have a type signature.
5413 If the type of the pattern variable is polymorphic, it <emphasis>must</emphasis> have a type signature.
5414 For example, here is the <literal>foldr/build</literal> rule:
5417 "fold/build" forall k z (g::forall b. (a->b->b) -> b -> b) .
5418 foldr k z (build g) = g k z
5421 Since <function>g</function> has a polymorphic type, it must have a type signature.
5428 The left hand side of a rule must consist of a top-level variable applied
5429 to arbitrary expressions. For example, this is <emphasis>not</emphasis> OK:
5432 "wrong1" forall e1 e2. case True of { True -> e1; False -> e2 } = e1
5433 "wrong2" forall f. f True = True
5436 In <literal>"wrong1"</literal>, the LHS is not an application; in <literal>"wrong2"</literal>, the LHS has a pattern variable
5443 A rule does not need to be in the same module as (any of) the
5444 variables it mentions, though of course they need to be in scope.
5450 Rules are automatically exported from a module, just as instance declarations are.
5461 <title>Semantics</title>
5464 From a semantic point of view:
5470 Rules are only applied if you use the <option>-O</option> flag.
5476 Rules are regarded as left-to-right rewrite rules.
5477 When GHC finds an expression that is a substitution instance of the LHS
5478 of a rule, it replaces the expression by the (appropriately-substituted) RHS.
5479 By "a substitution instance" we mean that the LHS can be made equal to the
5480 expression by substituting for the pattern variables.
5487 The LHS and RHS of a rule are typechecked, and must have the
5495 GHC makes absolutely no attempt to verify that the LHS and RHS
5496 of a rule have the same meaning. That is undecidable in general, and
5497 infeasible in most interesting cases. The responsibility is entirely the programmer's!
5504 GHC makes no attempt to make sure that the rules are confluent or
5505 terminating. For example:
5508 "loop" forall x,y. f x y = f y x
5511 This rule will cause the compiler to go into an infinite loop.
5518 If more than one rule matches a call, GHC will choose one arbitrarily to apply.
5524 GHC currently uses a very simple, syntactic, matching algorithm
5525 for matching a rule LHS with an expression. It seeks a substitution
5526 which makes the LHS and expression syntactically equal modulo alpha
5527 conversion. The pattern (rule), but not the expression, is eta-expanded if
5528 necessary. (Eta-expanding the expression can lead to laziness bugs.)
5529 But not beta conversion (that's called higher-order matching).
5533 Matching is carried out on GHC's intermediate language, which includes
5534 type abstractions and applications. So a rule only matches if the
5535 types match too. See <xref linkend="rule-spec"/> below.
5541 GHC keeps trying to apply the rules as it optimises the program.
5542 For example, consider:
5551 The expression <literal>s (t xs)</literal> does not match the rule <literal>"map/map"</literal>, but GHC
5552 will substitute for <varname>s</varname> and <varname>t</varname>, giving an expression which does match.
5553 If <varname>s</varname> or <varname>t</varname> was (a) used more than once, and (b) large or a redex, then it would
5554 not be substituted, and the rule would not fire.
5561 In the earlier phases of compilation, GHC inlines <emphasis>nothing
5562 that appears on the LHS of a rule</emphasis>, because once you have substituted
5563 for something you can't match against it (given the simple minded
5564 matching). So if you write the rule
5567 "map/map" forall f,g. map f . map g = map (f.g)
5570 this <emphasis>won't</emphasis> match the expression <literal>map f (map g xs)</literal>.
5571 It will only match something written with explicit use of ".".
5572 Well, not quite. It <emphasis>will</emphasis> match the expression
5578 where <function>wibble</function> is defined:
5581 wibble f g = map f . map g
5584 because <function>wibble</function> will be inlined (it's small).
5586 Later on in compilation, GHC starts inlining even things on the
5587 LHS of rules, but still leaves the rules enabled. This inlining
5588 policy is controlled by the per-simplification-pass flag <option>-finline-phase</option><emphasis>n</emphasis>.
5595 All rules are implicitly exported from the module, and are therefore
5596 in force in any module that imports the module that defined the rule, directly
5597 or indirectly. (That is, if A imports B, which imports C, then C's rules are
5598 in force when compiling A.) The situation is very similar to that for instance
5610 <title>List fusion</title>
5613 The RULES mechanism is used to implement fusion (deforestation) of common list functions.
5614 If a "good consumer" consumes an intermediate list constructed by a "good producer", the
5615 intermediate list should be eliminated entirely.
5619 The following are good producers:
5631 Enumerations of <literal>Int</literal> and <literal>Char</literal> (e.g. <literal>['a'..'z']</literal>).
5637 Explicit lists (e.g. <literal>[True, False]</literal>)
5643 The cons constructor (e.g <literal>3:4:[]</literal>)
5649 <function>++</function>
5655 <function>map</function>
5661 <function>filter</function>
5667 <function>iterate</function>, <function>repeat</function>
5673 <function>zip</function>, <function>zipWith</function>
5682 The following are good consumers:
5694 <function>array</function> (on its second argument)
5700 <function>length</function>
5706 <function>++</function> (on its first argument)
5712 <function>foldr</function>
5718 <function>map</function>
5724 <function>filter</function>
5730 <function>concat</function>
5736 <function>unzip</function>, <function>unzip2</function>, <function>unzip3</function>, <function>unzip4</function>
5742 <function>zip</function>, <function>zipWith</function> (but on one argument only; if both are good producers, <function>zip</function>
5743 will fuse with one but not the other)
5749 <function>partition</function>
5755 <function>head</function>
5761 <function>and</function>, <function>or</function>, <function>any</function>, <function>all</function>
5767 <function>sequence_</function>
5773 <function>msum</function>
5779 <function>sortBy</function>
5788 So, for example, the following should generate no intermediate lists:
5791 array (1,10) [(i,i*i) | i <- map (+ 1) [0..9]]
5797 This list could readily be extended; if there are Prelude functions that you use
5798 a lot which are not included, please tell us.
5802 If you want to write your own good consumers or producers, look at the
5803 Prelude definitions of the above functions to see how to do so.
5808 <sect2 id="rule-spec">
5809 <title>Specialisation
5813 Rewrite rules can be used to get the same effect as a feature
5814 present in earlier versions of GHC.
5815 For example, suppose that:
5818 genericLookup :: Ord a => Table a b -> a -> b
5819 intLookup :: Table Int b -> Int -> b
5822 where <function>intLookup</function> is an implementation of
5823 <function>genericLookup</function> that works very fast for
5824 keys of type <literal>Int</literal>. You might wish
5825 to tell GHC to use <function>intLookup</function> instead of
5826 <function>genericLookup</function> whenever the latter was called with
5827 type <literal>Table Int b -> Int -> b</literal>.
5828 It used to be possible to write
5831 {-# SPECIALIZE genericLookup :: Table Int b -> Int -> b = intLookup #-}
5834 This feature is no longer in GHC, but rewrite rules let you do the same thing:
5837 {-# RULES "genericLookup/Int" genericLookup = intLookup #-}
5840 This slightly odd-looking rule instructs GHC to replace
5841 <function>genericLookup</function> by <function>intLookup</function>
5842 <emphasis>whenever the types match</emphasis>.
5843 What is more, this rule does not need to be in the same
5844 file as <function>genericLookup</function>, unlike the
5845 <literal>SPECIALIZE</literal> pragmas which currently do (so that they
5846 have an original definition available to specialise).
5849 <para>It is <emphasis>Your Responsibility</emphasis> to make sure that
5850 <function>intLookup</function> really behaves as a specialised version
5851 of <function>genericLookup</function>!!!</para>
5853 <para>An example in which using <literal>RULES</literal> for
5854 specialisation will Win Big:
5857 toDouble :: Real a => a -> Double
5858 toDouble = fromRational . toRational
5860 {-# RULES "toDouble/Int" toDouble = i2d #-}
5861 i2d (I# i) = D# (int2Double# i) -- uses Glasgow prim-op directly
5864 The <function>i2d</function> function is virtually one machine
5865 instruction; the default conversion—via an intermediate
5866 <literal>Rational</literal>—is obscenely expensive by
5873 <title>Controlling what's going on</title>
5881 Use <option>-ddump-rules</option> to see what transformation rules GHC is using.
5887 Use <option>-ddump-simpl-stats</option> to see what rules are being fired.
5888 If you add <option>-dppr-debug</option> you get a more detailed listing.
5894 The definition of (say) <function>build</function> in <filename>GHC/Base.lhs</filename> looks llike this:
5897 build :: forall a. (forall b. (a -> b -> b) -> b -> b) -> [a]
5898 {-# INLINE build #-}
5902 Notice the <literal>INLINE</literal>! That prevents <literal>(:)</literal> from being inlined when compiling
5903 <literal>PrelBase</literal>, so that an importing module will “see” the <literal>(:)</literal>, and can
5904 match it on the LHS of a rule. <literal>INLINE</literal> prevents any inlining happening
5905 in the RHS of the <literal>INLINE</literal> thing. I regret the delicacy of this.
5912 In <filename>libraries/base/GHC/Base.lhs</filename> look at the rules for <function>map</function> to
5913 see how to write rules that will do fusion and yet give an efficient
5914 program even if fusion doesn't happen. More rules in <filename>GHC/List.lhs</filename>.
5924 <sect2 id="core-pragma">
5925 <title>CORE pragma</title>
5927 <indexterm><primary>CORE pragma</primary></indexterm>
5928 <indexterm><primary>pragma, CORE</primary></indexterm>
5929 <indexterm><primary>core, annotation</primary></indexterm>
5932 The external core format supports <quote>Note</quote> annotations;
5933 the <literal>CORE</literal> pragma gives a way to specify what these
5934 should be in your Haskell source code. Syntactically, core
5935 annotations are attached to expressions and take a Haskell string
5936 literal as an argument. The following function definition shows an
5940 f x = ({-# CORE "foo" #-} show) ({-# CORE "bar" #-} x)
5943 Semantically, this is equivalent to:
5951 However, when external for is generated (via
5952 <option>-fext-core</option>), there will be Notes attached to the
5953 expressions <function>show</function> and <varname>x</varname>.
5954 The core function declaration for <function>f</function> is:
5958 f :: %forall a . GHCziShow.ZCTShow a ->
5959 a -> GHCziBase.ZMZN GHCziBase.Char =
5960 \ @ a (zddShow::GHCziShow.ZCTShow a) (eta::a) ->
5962 %case zddShow %of (tpl::GHCziShow.ZCTShow a)
5964 (tpl1::GHCziBase.Int ->
5966 GHCziBase.ZMZN GHCziBase.Char -> GHCziBase.ZMZN GHCziBase.Cha
5968 (tpl2::a -> GHCziBase.ZMZN GHCziBase.Char)
5969 (tpl3::GHCziBase.ZMZN a ->
5970 GHCziBase.ZMZN GHCziBase.Char -> GHCziBase.ZMZN GHCziBase.Cha
5978 Here, we can see that the function <function>show</function> (which
5979 has been expanded out to a case expression over the Show dictionary)
5980 has a <literal>%note</literal> attached to it, as does the
5981 expression <varname>eta</varname> (which used to be called
5982 <varname>x</varname>).
5989 <sect1 id="generic-classes">
5990 <title>Generic classes</title>
5992 <para>(Note: support for generic classes is currently broken in
5996 The ideas behind this extension are described in detail in "Derivable type classes",
5997 Ralf Hinze and Simon Peyton Jones, Haskell Workshop, Montreal Sept 2000, pp94-105.
5998 An example will give the idea:
6006 fromBin :: [Int] -> (a, [Int])
6008 toBin {| Unit |} Unit = []
6009 toBin {| a :+: b |} (Inl x) = 0 : toBin x
6010 toBin {| a :+: b |} (Inr y) = 1 : toBin y
6011 toBin {| a :*: b |} (x :*: y) = toBin x ++ toBin y
6013 fromBin {| Unit |} bs = (Unit, bs)
6014 fromBin {| a :+: b |} (0:bs) = (Inl x, bs') where (x,bs') = fromBin bs
6015 fromBin {| a :+: b |} (1:bs) = (Inr y, bs') where (y,bs') = fromBin bs
6016 fromBin {| a :*: b |} bs = (x :*: y, bs'') where (x,bs' ) = fromBin bs
6017 (y,bs'') = fromBin bs'
6020 This class declaration explains how <literal>toBin</literal> and <literal>fromBin</literal>
6021 work for arbitrary data types. They do so by giving cases for unit, product, and sum,
6022 which are defined thus in the library module <literal>Generics</literal>:
6026 data a :+: b = Inl a | Inr b
6027 data a :*: b = a :*: b
6030 Now you can make a data type into an instance of Bin like this:
6032 instance (Bin a, Bin b) => Bin (a,b)
6033 instance Bin a => Bin [a]
6035 That is, just leave off the "where" clause. Of course, you can put in the
6036 where clause and over-ride whichever methods you please.
6040 <title> Using generics </title>
6041 <para>To use generics you need to</para>
6044 <para>Use the flags <option>-fglasgow-exts</option> (to enable the extra syntax),
6045 <option>-fgenerics</option> (to generate extra per-data-type code),
6046 and <option>-package lang</option> (to make the <literal>Generics</literal> library
6050 <para>Import the module <literal>Generics</literal> from the
6051 <literal>lang</literal> package. This import brings into
6052 scope the data types <literal>Unit</literal>,
6053 <literal>:*:</literal>, and <literal>:+:</literal>. (You
6054 don't need this import if you don't mention these types
6055 explicitly; for example, if you are simply giving instance
6056 declarations.)</para>
6061 <sect2> <title> Changes wrt the paper </title>
6063 Note that the type constructors <literal>:+:</literal> and <literal>:*:</literal>
6064 can be written infix (indeed, you can now use
6065 any operator starting in a colon as an infix type constructor). Also note that
6066 the type constructors are not exactly as in the paper (Unit instead of 1, etc).
6067 Finally, note that the syntax of the type patterns in the class declaration
6068 uses "<literal>{|</literal>" and "<literal>|}</literal>" brackets; curly braces
6069 alone would ambiguous when they appear on right hand sides (an extension we
6070 anticipate wanting).
6074 <sect2> <title>Terminology and restrictions</title>
6076 Terminology. A "generic default method" in a class declaration
6077 is one that is defined using type patterns as above.
6078 A "polymorphic default method" is a default method defined as in Haskell 98.
6079 A "generic class declaration" is a class declaration with at least one
6080 generic default method.
6088 Alas, we do not yet implement the stuff about constructor names and
6095 A generic class can have only one parameter; you can't have a generic
6096 multi-parameter class.
6102 A default method must be defined entirely using type patterns, or entirely
6103 without. So this is illegal:
6106 op :: a -> (a, Bool)
6107 op {| Unit |} Unit = (Unit, True)
6110 However it is perfectly OK for some methods of a generic class to have
6111 generic default methods and others to have polymorphic default methods.
6117 The type variable(s) in the type pattern for a generic method declaration
6118 scope over the right hand side. So this is legal (note the use of the type variable ``p'' in a type signature on the right hand side:
6122 op {| p :*: q |} (x :*: y) = op (x :: p)
6130 The type patterns in a generic default method must take one of the forms:
6136 where "a" and "b" are type variables. Furthermore, all the type patterns for
6137 a single type constructor (<literal>:*:</literal>, say) must be identical; they
6138 must use the same type variables. So this is illegal:
6142 op {| a :+: b |} (Inl x) = True
6143 op {| p :+: q |} (Inr y) = False
6145 The type patterns must be identical, even in equations for different methods of the class.
6146 So this too is illegal:
6150 op1 {| a :*: b |} (x :*: y) = True
6153 op2 {| p :*: q |} (x :*: y) = False
6155 (The reason for this restriction is that we gather all the equations for a particular type consructor
6156 into a single generic instance declaration.)
6162 A generic method declaration must give a case for each of the three type constructors.
6168 The type for a generic method can be built only from:
6170 <listitem> <para> Function arrows </para> </listitem>
6171 <listitem> <para> Type variables </para> </listitem>
6172 <listitem> <para> Tuples </para> </listitem>
6173 <listitem> <para> Arbitrary types not involving type variables </para> </listitem>
6175 Here are some example type signatures for generic methods:
6178 op2 :: Bool -> (a,Bool)
6179 op3 :: [Int] -> a -> a
6182 Here, op1, op2, op3 are OK, but op4 is rejected, because it has a type variable
6186 This restriction is an implementation restriction: we just havn't got around to
6187 implementing the necessary bidirectional maps over arbitrary type constructors.
6188 It would be relatively easy to add specific type constructors, such as Maybe and list,
6189 to the ones that are allowed.</para>
6194 In an instance declaration for a generic class, the idea is that the compiler
6195 will fill in the methods for you, based on the generic templates. However it can only
6200 The instance type is simple (a type constructor applied to type variables, as in Haskell 98).
6205 No constructor of the instance type has unboxed fields.
6209 (Of course, these things can only arise if you are already using GHC extensions.)
6210 However, you can still give an instance declarations for types which break these rules,
6211 provided you give explicit code to override any generic default methods.
6219 The option <option>-ddump-deriv</option> dumps incomprehensible stuff giving details of
6220 what the compiler does with generic declarations.
6225 <sect2> <title> Another example </title>
6227 Just to finish with, here's another example I rather like:
6231 nCons {| Unit |} _ = 1
6232 nCons {| a :*: b |} _ = 1
6233 nCons {| a :+: b |} _ = nCons (bot::a) + nCons (bot::b)
6236 tag {| Unit |} _ = 1
6237 tag {| a :*: b |} _ = 1
6238 tag {| a :+: b |} (Inl x) = tag x
6239 tag {| a :+: b |} (Inr y) = nCons (bot::a) + tag y
6248 ;;; Local Variables: ***
6250 ;;; sgml-parent-document: ("users_guide.xml" "book" "chapter" "sect1") ***
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