[Haskell-beginners] the equivalent of OO class data and methods

2 Apr 2009

      I'm making the transition from OO to Haskell, and a major problem  for me is that I'm 
used to OO, where member variables are distinct from other variables and functions, 
so I can use totally generic member variable names and never have a conflict with 
other member variables or local variables.

For example, if I want to create LayoutItem and name its coordinates x and y, I do this:

(Python)
class LayoutItem :
   def __init__( self, x, y ) :
     self.x, self.y = (x, y )

Then later,
p = LayoutItem( 10, 20 )

Then later I can refer to p.x and p.y.

I can also create other classes and name *their* member variables x and y, with no 
confusion.

Now, I know that in Haskell I can do

data LayoutItem = LayoutItem { x, y :: Int }

Later,

let p = LayoutItem { x = 10, y = 20 }

I have read that this automatically creates "accessor" functions called x and y, so I 
can refer to (x p) and (y p)

let foo = (x p)^2 + (y p)^2

Now let's say I create another type that also uses x and y:

data Notehead  = Notehead { x, y :: Int }

n = Notehead { x = 100, y = 200 }

This doesn't work. Apparently the accessor functions x and y (for LayoutItem) have 
global scope and conflict with those for Notehead.

Which means I have to name them different things, which is awkward. For example,

data LayoutItem = LayoutItem { layoutItemX, layoutItemY :: Int }
data Notehead = Notehead { noteheadItemX, noteheadItemY :: Int }

Also, I tried using some of these accessor function names as variables, and the 
compiler doesn't distinguish between them. For example,

myfunc :: Notehead -> LayoutItem -> Int
myfunc n p = let layoutItemY = layoutItemX p
                  z = layoutItemY n
              in z^2

This doesn't work, because declaring layoutItemY as a variable hides its defintion as 
an accessor function.

Is there a way to get what I want from Haskell?

Thanks,
Mike

[Haskell-beginners] the equivalent of OO class data and methods

Michael Mossey