[GHC] #16241: Avoid orphan instances with OVERLAPPABLE (sometimes)

26 Jan 2019

      #16241: Avoid orphan instances with OVERLAPPABLE (sometimes)
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           Reporter:  AntC           |             Owner:  (none)
               Type:  bug            |            Status:  new
           Priority:  normal         |         Milestone:
          Component:  Compiler       |           Version:  8.6.1
           Keywords:                 |  Operating System:  Windows
       Architecture:                 |   Type of failure:  Poor/confusing
  Unknown/Multiple                   |  error message
          Test Case:                 |        Blocked By:
           Blocking:                 |   Related Tickets:  #15135
Differential Rev(s):                 |         Wiki Page:
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 Not sure whether to count this as a bug or a feature. If it's 'intended
 behaviour', what is the intent, exactly?

 GHC is on the verge of doing something useful, but it's inconsistent and
 "fragile" (as the warning does tell me).

 Consider the standard example of what goes wrong with orphan instances,
 from the
 [https://downloads.haskell.org/~ghc/8.6.3/docs/html/users_guide/glasgow_exts....
 #overlapping-instances big red **warning** in the Users Guide]. (Version 1
 lightly adapted to use `OVERLAPPING` rather than the now-deprecated
 `Overlapping Instances`.)

 {{{#!hs
 {-# LANGUAGE FlexibleInstances, FlexibleContexts #-}
 module Help where

     class MyShow a where
       myshow :: a -> String

     instance MyShow a => MyShow [a] where         -- version 1
 --     instance {-# OVERLAPPABLE #-}              -- version 2
 --           MyShow a => MyShow [a] where
       myshow xs = concatMap myshow xs

     showHelp :: MyShow a => [a] -> String         -- version 1
 --    showHelp :: MyShow [a] => [a] -> String     -- version 2
     showHelp xs = myshow xs

 {-# LANGUAGE FlexibleInstances #-}
 module Main where
     import Help

     data T = MkT

     instance MyShow T where
       myshow x = "Used generic instance"

     instance {# OVERLAPPING #} MyShow [T] where
       myshow xs = "Used more specific instance"

     main = do { print (myshow [MkT]); print (showHelp [MkT]) }
 }}}

 Version 1 gives the as-warned incoherent behaviour ("different instance
 choices are made in different parts of the program" -- that is, in
 different modules for the (apparently) same code `myshow xs`.)

 If and only if both changes marked `version 2` are in place, `myshow xs`
 returns the same result from both calls consistently.

 Why? Because the `MyShow [a] =>` constraint on `showHelp`'s sig sees that
 exactly matches an instance head, and that the head is marked
 `OVERLAPPABLE`. But GHC is not happy

 {{{
      ... warning: [-Wsimplifiable-class-constraints]
     * The constraint `MyShow [a]' matches an instance declaration
       instance [overlappable] MyShow a => MyShow [a]
       This makes type inference for inner bindings fragile;
         either use MonoLocalBinds, or simplify it using the instance
 }}}

 Hmm: wrong advice: simplifying the constraint using the instance gives us
 the version 1 signature, which exactly makes `showHelp` use the orphan
 instance.

 ''Does'' version 2 make inference for inner bindings fragile? I think only
 if the instance is not marked `OVERLAPPABLE`. IOW a tentative rule would
 be 'OVERLAPPABLE constraints should not be simplified!'

 Inconsistencies I see:

 * Marking overlappable instances as `OVERLAPPABLE` is not merely the
 mirror-image of marking the overlapping instance as `OVERLAPPING`: you get
 different behaviour.

 * The `OVERLAPPABLE` pragma, when you already have `OVERLAPPING` to accept
 the instances, is not merely a comment.

 * This makes an observable difference under separate compilation, contra
 SPJ's ticket:15135#comment:9 .

 * ticket:15135#comment:1 is also relevant "I think it's arguable that an
 instance should only be overlappable if it says `{-# OVERLAPPABLE #-}`.
 But that's not our current spec."

-- 
Ticket URL: http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/16241
GHC http://www.haskell.org/ghc/
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