The problem is that right now bitSize is deliberately excluded from looking at its argument to determine the number of bits in it. You _really_ want a different combinator. Almost every user of bitSize is passing it undefined, not a real value.


On Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 12:07 PM, Ben Millwood <haskell@benmachine.co.uk> wrote:
Wouldn't it be possible to have an instance Bits ByteString, or Vector
Bool or something, where the bitsize would depend on the bytestring
length, and hence wouldn't be fixed?

(although if we're catering for that sort of use, the docs will need
to be changed)

On Sun, Aug 26, 2012 at 9:53 PM, Henning Thielemann
<lemming@henning-thielemann.de> wrote:
>
> On Sun, 26 Aug 2012, Ian Lynagh wrote:
>
>> On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 07:49:49PM -0400, Edward Kmett wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> deprecate, but not remove bitSize this iteration, and make a separate
>>> class FiniteBits for things with a finite, fixed number of bits:
>>>
>>>> class Bits b => FiniteBits b where
>>>>    finiteBitSize :: b -> Int
>>>>    finiteBitSize = bitSize
>
>
>
> Bit size is always finite in strict data types, isn't it? I suggest a name
> containing "Fixed".
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Libraries mailing list
> Libraries@haskell.org
> http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries

_______________________________________________
Libraries mailing list
Libraries@haskell.org
http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries