We need more than that. We need to compile the indefinite package to code when we fill its holes. So we need access to its source code in some
One way to do that is to keep the original Haskell source code (pre-cpp,
#10871: Implement "fat" interface files which can be directly compiled without source -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- Reporter: ezyang | Owner: ezyang Type: feature request | Status: new Priority: normal | Milestone: Component: Compiler | Version: 7.11 Resolution: | Keywords: backpack Operating System: Unknown/Multiple | Architecture: | Unknown/Multiple Type of failure: None/Unknown | Test Case: Blocked By: | Blocking: Related Tickets: | Differential Rev(s): Wiki Page: | -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- Comment (by simonmar): form. pre-everything) and typecheck it from scratch, being (a) careful to keep a copy of the source code and (b) ever so careful to replay exactly the front-end compiler flags that were used the first time round. We could do this. But it's just easier to snapshot the Core bindings that we already have in our hand. With unfoldings in interface files we already do this; it's mainly a question of keeping all unfoldings, not just some. So that's exactly what I think we should ''not'' do, we don't need to record and replay anything at all because when we instantiate the package it's a completely separate compilation. So just to be clear, the plan for building package A & B where A has a B-shaped hole would be: 1. typecheck A alone, install (thin) interface files 2. build B from source, install code + interface files 3. build A from source against B, install code + interface files And any of these steps can be omitted if we've already done it before and cached the results in the package database, which we can discover by looking up the package key. Isn't this much simpler than saving fat interface files? What am I missing? -- Ticket URL: http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/10871#comment:19 GHC http://www.haskell.org/ghc/ The Glasgow Haskell Compiler