#10179: Kinds missing from types in ghci -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- Reporter: br1 | Owner: Type: bug | Status: new Priority: normal | Milestone: Component: GHCi | Version: 7.10.1-rc2 Resolution: | Keywords: Operating System: Unknown/Multiple | Architecture: Type of failure: None/Unknown | Unknown/Multiple Blocked By: | Test Case: Related Tickets: | Blocking: | Differential Revisions: -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- Comment (by goldfire): I think the problem here is that GHC/the Haskell community, in general, is quite ambivalent about kind-polymorphism. My take on it all is that the power users want it. At the same time, we're afraid that it will scare people, and so we're a little embarrassed of those `k`s showing up to unsuspecting folks without deep experience with type theory. So, we hide the kinds behind `-fprint-explicit-kinds`. I don't think we'll resolve this tension anytime soon, as it's there for a good reason: we want both power and comprehensibility. But it's hard to have both, of course. So, here's a solution: do (broadly) what Idris does. (I don't have Idris to hand, so don't take the analogy too literally.) When a type prints out, suppress kinds. BUT, have some interactive way of requesting more information, say by clicking on the type. I know this solution will take a lot of work, but I think that work will be very worthwhile down the road. See, for example, #10073. -- Ticket URL: http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/10179#comment:3 GHC http://www.haskell.org/ghc/ The Glasgow Haskell Compiler