On 03 May 2005 22:13, S. Alexander Jacobson wrote:

Problem: We need a way to simplify module imports.

Problem details:

* Hierarchical module names are getting really long (including a functional area, a package name, and a module name).

* People typically import multiple modules from areas close to each other in the hierarchical module namespace (especially in the case of intra-package imports).

* Long module names are required even for non-exposed modules because a program may contain only one module with a given name (regardless of its visibility).

Idea: Allow module relative imports in a manner that does not break any existing code.

Proposal:

* Use preceding dots to indicate that module name is relative * Use from keyword to specify a different relative base.

Example:

Dot relative syntax Translation ------------------- ----------- module Text.Space.Foo.M where module Text.Space.Foo.M where import .M2 import Text.Space.Foo.M2 as M2 import ..Bar.Baz import Text.Space.Bar.Baz as Bar.Baz import Data.Set import Data.Set from ...HaXML.XML import .Types import Text.HaXML.XML.Types as Types import .Escape import Text.HaXML.XML.Escape as Escape import .Pretty import Text.HaXML.XML.Pretty as Pretty

I believe that the proposed syntax is much more concise and readable than the current equivalent.

I was sure something like this had been suggested before, and in fact several similar schemes have. Here's a couple of starters: http://www.haskell.org/pipermail/libraries/2001-February/000268.html http://www.haskell.org/pipermail/libraries/2001-March/000322.html Why haven't we ever implemented anything like this? A good question, with no really good answer. I think it's a combination of (a) the current situation isn't *really* hurting that much (b) the current situation is *really* easy to describe and implement (c) none of the proposed solutions are obviously the right thing (e.g. the '.' prefixes look a little obscure, IMO). and from my perspective: (d) I hoped that something like grafting would provide a more general solution. Oh, and there was a recent proposal on the libraries list to allow exporting of qualified names, which solves a similar/overlapping problem: http://www.haskell.org/pipermail/libraries/2005-March/003390.html FWIW, I think this proposal ended in a reasonable result. It just needs someone to implement it... Cheers, Simon