Casey,
Why in a pattern match like
score (1 3) = 7
You probably mean
score 1 3 = 7
which applies the function 'score' to two arguments. With the parentheses, it looks like an application of '1' to the argument '3'. But to answer your actual question...
can I not have
sizeMax = 3
score (1 sizeMax) = 7
When a variable name (such as 'sizeMax') appears in a pattern, it gets bound there. This is useful so you can refer to the variable on the right hand side, as in: successor x = x + 1 How would the compiler know whether to bind the variable (what actually happens), or match against the value represented by some earlier binding (what you're asking for)? What if the type of that second argument doesn't have a defined equality operation? There might be some reasonable way to do it, but I suspect it would be fragile and error-prone, at best. So it's always a new binding. It's easy enough to work around: score 1 x | x == sizeMax = 7 Regards, John