:kind (->) - What do the question marks imply?

Hello Haskell gurus, I am trying to understand "kind" Prelude> :k Maybe Maybe :: * -> * Prelude> :k (->) (->) :: ?? -> ? -> * What are the question marks? Why are they different from *? How is this related to rank-2 polymorphism? Thanks in advance, Regards, Amitava Shee

On Thu, Mar 24, 2011 at 12:21:57PM -0400, Amitava Shee wrote:
Hello Haskell gurus,
I am trying to understand "kind"
Prelude> :k Maybe Maybe :: * -> * Prelude> :k (->) (->) :: ?? -> ? -> *
What are the question marks? Why are they different from *?
I forget the precise details, but they are artifacts of GHC's internals. They have something to do with strictness and/or unboxing. You should really just think of them as if they were *.
How is this related to rank-2 polymorphism?
It isn't, as far as I know. -Brent
participants (2)
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Amitava Shee
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Brent Yorgey