I'd say that any polymorphic code that assumes that x==y implies x=y is broken.
But apart from that, floating point numbers break all kinds of laws that we might expect to hold.  Even so, they are convenient to have instances of various classes.

On Wed, Mar 12, 2008 at 7:31 PM, Adrian Hey <ahey@iee.org> wrote:
Remi Turk wrote:
> I wouldn't bet on it either:
>
> Prelude> 0.0 == -0.0
> True
> Prelude> isNegativeZero 0.0 == isNegativeZero (-0.0)
> False
>
> Although isNegativeZero might be considered a ``private,
> "internal" interface that exposes implementation details.''

Interesting example.

So is the correct conclusion from this that all (polymorphic) code
that assumes (x == y) = True implies x=y is inherently broken,
or is just this particular Eq instance that's broken?

Regards
--
Adrian Hey


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