G'day all.
Quoting Neil Mitchell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
It's nice to write functions in point free style:
f = sort . nub
But sometimes I have to add an extra case, on a certain value:
f [] = [1]
f = sort . nub
But now these equations have different arities, and its rejected by
Haskell.
I don't know why Haskell does it specifically, but here's why I like
the behaviour:
1. Equations with different arities more often signal bugs than
correct intentions. One common situation is adding an argument to
a function, and accidentally leaving one equation out.
2. It's highly misleading.
This:
f [] = [1]
f = sort . nub
suggests that f is (sort . nub), which is most decidedly is not.
By forcing you to add the argument:
f [] = [1]
f xs = sort . num $ xs
it reminds you more strongly that what you're actually writing is a
shorthand for this:
f [] = [1]
f xs@(_:_) = sort . num $ xs
Cheers,
Andrew Bromage
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