
Control.Applicative features a type named WrappedMonad that is used to recover an Applicative instance from a Monad instance. However, since GHC 7.10, it hasn't been possible to write an Monad instance without an Applicative instance. Consequently, this type is useless (with one caveat below). I propose removing this type. Trac Ticket: https://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/15027 GitHub PR: https://github.com/ghc/ghc/pull/129 On the PR, David Feuer suggests that the type may have some utility depending on whether the monad-of-no-return proposal is accepted (and also on whether DerivingVia is accepted, but this one seems more sure). If Monad keeps return as a typeclass method, then DerivingVia could be used to produce an Applicative instance from a Monad instance. If anyone knows the status of this proposal, that could be helpful. This aside, all indication of approval or disapproval of this proposal are welcome. Also, I'd really love to know if anyone is even using this type. -- -Andrew Thaddeus Martin

I don't quite understand the comment about DerivingVia. If Monad keeps return as a typeclass method, then DerivingVia could be used
to produce an Applicative instance from a Monad instance.
Why would DerivingVia be needed for this? If you have your hands on a Monad
instance, then you always have access to the corresponding Applicative
instance, since Applicative is a superclass of Monad. I'm not sure how
DerivingVia comes into play here, or how the "monad of no return" proposal
would change anything about this. Can someone spell it out for me?
-- Dan Burton
On Wed, Apr 25, 2018 at 6:11 PM, Andrew Martin
Control.Applicative features a type named WrappedMonad that is used to recover an Applicative instance from a Monad instance. However, since GHC 7.10, it hasn't been possible to write an Monad instance without an Applicative instance. Consequently, this type is useless (with one caveat below). I propose removing this type.
Trac Ticket: https://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/15027 GitHub PR: https://github.com/ghc/ghc/pull/129
On the PR, David Feuer suggests that the type may have some utility depending on whether the monad-of-no-return proposal is accepted (and also on whether DerivingVia is accepted, but this one seems more sure). If Monad keeps return as a typeclass method, then DerivingVia could be used to produce an Applicative instance from a Monad instance. If anyone knows the status of this proposal, that could be helpful. This aside, all indication of approval or disapproval of this proposal are welcome. Also, I'd really love to know if anyone is even using this type.
-- -Andrew Thaddeus Martin
_______________________________________________ Libraries mailing list Libraries@haskell.org http://mail.haskell.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/libraries

Yes. If DerivingVia is accepted, but Monad of no return is rejected,
then some people may choose to write (modulo unresolved syntax)
data M a = ... deriving (Functor via (WrappedMonad m), Applicative via
(WrappedMonad m))
instance Monad M where
return = ...
(>>=) = ...
(>>) = ...
rather than the standard
instance Functor M where
fmap = liftM
instance Applicative M where
pure = return
(<*>) = ap
liftA2 = liftM2
If, however, the Monad-of-no-return proposal goes through, there won't
be any way (using standard classes) to write a Monad instance without
hand-writing an Applicative instance.
So my earlier +1 is very much conditional on that combination *not* happening.
On Wed, Apr 25, 2018 at 9:50 PM, Dan Burton
I don't quite understand the comment about DerivingVia.
If Monad keeps return as a typeclass method, then DerivingVia could be used to produce an Applicative instance from a Monad instance.
Why would DerivingVia be needed for this? If you have your hands on a Monad instance, then you always have access to the corresponding Applicative instance, since Applicative is a superclass of Monad. I'm not sure how DerivingVia comes into play here, or how the "monad of no return" proposal would change anything about this. Can someone spell it out for me?
-- Dan Burton
On Wed, Apr 25, 2018 at 6:11 PM, Andrew Martin
wrote: Control.Applicative features a type named WrappedMonad that is used to recover an Applicative instance from a Monad instance. However, since GHC 7.10, it hasn't been possible to write an Monad instance without an Applicative instance. Consequently, this type is useless (with one caveat below). I propose removing this type.
Trac Ticket: https://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/15027 GitHub PR: https://github.com/ghc/ghc/pull/129
On the PR, David Feuer suggests that the type may have some utility depending on whether the monad-of-no-return proposal is accepted (and also on whether DerivingVia is accepted, but this one seems more sure). If Monad keeps return as a typeclass method, then DerivingVia could be used to produce an Applicative instance from a Monad instance. If anyone knows the status of this proposal, that could be helpful. This aside, all indication of approval or disapproval of this proposal are welcome. Also, I'd really love to know if anyone is even using this type.
-- -Andrew Thaddeus Martin
_______________________________________________ Libraries mailing list Libraries@haskell.org http://mail.haskell.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/libraries

+1
I don't know about *serious* use, but there are at least a few
packages that would need modification if it goes away. The ones I was
able to find in not too many minutes of searching:
It shows up in type signatures in
* lens: Control.Lens.Plated, Control.Lens.Traversal,
Control.Lens.IndexedTraversal, and Control.Lens.Wrapped
* base-orphans: Data.Orphans
It has instances (which would have to be removed) in
* semigroupoids: Data.Functor.Alt, Data.Functor.Apply,
Data.Functor.Bind, Data.Functor.Plus
* pointed: Data.Pointed
Among the GHC boot libraries, it appears to be used only in
containers, which only uses it for old base versions.
On Wed, Apr 25, 2018 at 9:11 PM, Andrew Martin
Control.Applicative features a type named WrappedMonad that is used to recover an Applicative instance from a Monad instance. However, since GHC 7.10, it hasn't been possible to write an Monad instance without an Applicative instance. Consequently, this type is useless (with one caveat below). I propose removing this type.
Trac Ticket: https://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/15027 GitHub PR: https://github.com/ghc/ghc/pull/129
On the PR, David Feuer suggests that the type may have some utility depending on whether the monad-of-no-return proposal is accepted (and also on whether DerivingVia is accepted, but this one seems more sure). If Monad keeps return as a typeclass method, then DerivingVia could be used to produce an Applicative instance from a Monad instance. If anyone knows the status of this proposal, that could be helpful. This aside, all indication of approval or disapproval of this proposal are welcome. Also, I'd really love to know if anyone is even using this type.
-- -Andrew Thaddeus Martin

On Wed, 25 Apr 2018, Andrew Martin wrote:
Control.Applicative features a type named WrappedMonad that is used to recover an Applicative instance from a Monad instance. However, since GHC 7.10, it hasn't been possible to write an Monad instance without an Applicative instance.
I use it in two packages. I am still using mainly GHC before 7.10 because of the insecurity introduced by Foldable on tuples in GHC-7.10.

Henning, how hard would it be to add some CPP to make those packages
work without WrappedMonad with base >= 4.8.0?
On Thu, Apr 26, 2018 at 1:14 AM, Henning Thielemann
On Wed, 25 Apr 2018, Andrew Martin wrote:
Control.Applicative features a type named WrappedMonad that is used to recover an Applicative instance from a Monad instance. However, since GHC 7.10, it hasn't been possible to write an Monad instance without an Applicative instance.
I use it in two packages. I am still using mainly GHC before 7.10 because of the insecurity introduced by Foldable on tuples in GHC-7.10.

No, it doesn't hurt much right now. But if there Monad of no return proposal goes through, I think it will become pretty much unusable. I therefore think this proposal should be tied to that one. Separately, the instances don't seem ideal. In particular, I would have expected it to define x <$ WrapMonad m = WrapMonad (m >> return x) (*>) = (>>) but instead it lets both those methods take their default definitions. It also seems to be missing a MonadPlus instance. On Thu, Apr 26, 2018, 2:28 AM Henning Thielemann < lemming@henning-thielemann.de> wrote:
On Thu, 26 Apr 2018, David Feuer wrote:
Henning, how hard would it be to add some CPP to make those packages work without WrappedMonad with base >= 4.8.0?
I try to prevent CPP whereever possible. I would certainly add my own WrapMonad. But then, does WrapMonad in 'base' hurt?
participants (4)
-
Andrew Martin
-
Dan Burton
-
David Feuer
-
Henning Thielemann