I think the namespace proposal wants to be strictly upward compatible, therefore it's perhaps not the right time to discuss this ... but still I think the question "why should the source text of a module contain its name?" wants an answer. Even if we stick to module headers, I don't really like the idea of `module Fully.Qualified.Name where ..' The proposal mentions the analogy to Java. My knowledge of that is minimal, but in Java, they have `package Foo.Bar.Frobs' (full name required) and `class Frobble' (only last name there). So, a Haskell module corresponds to what? I understand the argument "the compiler needs to generate unique names in the object files" but this is a matter of implementation, about which the programmer (at least theoretically) should not care. I think the underlying design decision here is: how far should the user of a set of modules expect that he can move their source/interface/object files around, and still compile them/link against them correctly. The present proposal seems to imply: not at all. This is a conservative answer. It is easy to implement, and guarantees some consistency. Is it too restrictive? But assume this policy is adopted. Then I am not allowed to move (precompiled) modules around physically. That's why I want some means of renaming them (during importing), and as I wrote earlier, not only for single modules (`import Foo as Bar') but also for complete hierarchies (`import Leipzig.Standard as Standard') A potential problem is that the root of some hierarchy perhaps is just a directory (that contains subdirs and modules) but not itself a module. One would need to write a dummy module that just (qualified-)imports and re-exports all submodules. But this had to be extended whenever a submodule is added. This doesn't feel right. (On the other hand, the libFoo.a file had to be rebuilt anyway on such an occasion.) This leads to another question - during the linking stage: when should the compilation manager look for a single object file, and when should it expect an archive? Anyway I think even the most restricitve form of hierarchical module names would be very helpful. I certainly would start using it. -- -- Johannes Waldmann ---- http://www.informatik.uni-leipzig.de/~joe/ -- -- joe@informatik.uni-leipzig.de -- phone/fax (+49) 341 9732 204/252 --