On Jul 29, 2009, at 5:05 AM, Ryan Ingram wrote:
I see where you are going, but I'm not sure I agree. Let me give an example from another language with this kind of resolution: C++.
Right. That settles it: TDNR is a bad idea. Half fun and full earnest. I'm a fan of overloading as done in Ada, but the way C++ does it has always struck me as a mix of under-useful and over-complex, and my experience with it in practice has not been that marvellous. (C++ has far too many types that are _sort of_ compatible, but only sort of.) Interestingly, I've found that when I've thought I've wanted overloading in Haskell, what I've _really_ wanted is typeclasses, because they give me - far more confidence that my code is correct - far more _leverage_; "typeful programming" is amazing.