Hi
I've long wondered why GHC issues such prolix error messages when it runs into a problem.
I am primarily a Hugs user, compiling and running only with GHC once the code works, and only if I really need the speed - which is quite rare. but I've been hacking a project in GHCi recently (requiring template haskell), and I found the GHC error messages way too verbose.
Compilers for other languages seem content with as little as one line of output per error (which I am not advocating), or a few lines of source with the problem highlighted, but I rarely see more. Hugs also tends towards the terse side, but I've never found this to be a problem.
The most important thing in an error message for me is the line number. Next I want to see the type of error - syntax, type, instance etc. Then I want to see just a few lexemes of context so I can find where to start looking. If after all that I didn't figure out where the error was, I'd want more context - but I rarely want it with Hugs. I much prefer the Hugs error messages, although this may be experience with Hugs, rather than an issue with GHC. Thanks Neil