I've already posted this mail on haskell-cafe, but apparently the subject suggested a too simple question, so I try it here again. I am picking up a discussion with the same topic from haskell-users on 8th November. Thunks with reference on themselves was mentioned as main reason for <<loop>>.
A safe recursive definition would be let x = Foo (x+1) However, if you leave out the constructor, let x = x + 1 you get a <<loop>> (or a deadlock).
Are there any other reasons? I am trying to debug monadic code which stores state information in a record maintaining several Data.Maps, but in vain so far. A state is modified/changed in several steps by a compound function i.e. changeA $ changeB $ changeC state Could this also lead to a deadlock? If so, can I prevent this using CPS? If the state transformation is the main purpose/computation of the monad at all, is it better to use CPS? Is code using mtl, records or Data.Map more prone to <<loop>> or does this not matter at all. How can I identify self-referencing thunks more easily? Is there any rule of thumb to prevent <<loop>>? Are there any less obvious newbie mistakes causing <<loop> then the one above? Sorry, a lot of questions at once, but I am kind of helpless because I can't find any reason of my <<loop>>, so any comments, experience, and tips are highly appreciated. Thanks, Martin