On 7/12/07, Jonathan Cast
No. Of course not. Before making wild guesses about how GHC is implementing your code, read (and understand[1]) the STG paper:
In this particular case, reading the simplifier paper would probably be more relevant: http://research.microsoft.com/copyright/accept.asp?path=/users/simonpj/papers/comp-by-trans.ps.gz&pub=18 Or even just understanding the syntax of Core, really.
[1] Understanding the STG paper is not a requirement to using Haskell, just to making wild (incorrect) guesses about how the compiler's going to treat your code. But, of course, making wild (incorrect) guesses about how the compiler's going to treat your code is not a requirement to using Haskell.
Amen! Cheers, Tim -- Tim Chevalier* catamorphism.org *Often in error, never in doubt "Everyone's too stupid." -- _Ghost World_