On 18 February 2011 02:23, Edward Z. Yang
As an alternative to moving 1-5 into base, we can place them in the Haskell Platform.
+1 for this alternative.
6. Syntax extension for anonymous strict types
If I have a type (a, b), and I would like to make it strict in the first argument, I have to create a new data type. This syntax extension would permit me to create such data type simply by writing (!a, b).
This is probably going to be difficult, so here are some possible implementation strategies:
* Such syntax is simply sugar for creating an anonymous data type with those properties. Coercions would need to be specified manually. Type inference errors might become harder to diagnose.
* We modify all types to have a strictness bit and modify the inference algorithm to propagate these bits. It sounds like a fascinating research problem with a paper at the end, if it actually works.
If this is implemented, it supersedes all of the previous points (and in fact, probably many of the .Strict modules that currently exist, if application of strictness is strictly (ahem) mechanical.)
That would be really nice! It has always felt strange I could write: data Maybe' a = Nothing | Just !a but not: type Maybe' a = Maybe !a Regards, Bas