Hi Pat,
A proof for the predicate BEING(being) must show that there is an
inhabited type (a type which has values)
Note that in a lazy language like Haskell every type is inhabited by _|
_, that is, "bottom" the undefined value.
If we find a value for a type that is a proof that a type exists (it
is
inhabited) that is a member of the class
I don't understand the above statement. The "inhabitedness" of a type
does not tell us anything about which classes it belongs to. Instance
declarations do.
With at least one instantiation existing (e.g. BEING(Person) =
true) we
can define a sub-class
You can define subclasses even if no instances exist. And as Daniel
said, the code
class BEING human => HUMAN human where
defines a subclass HUMAN of BEING which means that every instance of
HUMAN must also be a BEING. You can read it as: "a BEING is also a
HUMAN by the following definitions".
In general for the HUMAN sub-class to be useful additional constraints
are added after the where keyword. These are similar in purpose to
those
described in an ordinary class (not a sub-class)
The "additional constraints" are additional functions that need to be
available.
What is the logical role of the functions in the classes and
instances. Are they constraints on the types in predicates?
BEING(Person) tells you that the type Person implements the functions
declared in the type class BEING.
Any instantiation that respects types is fine?
That depends whether you ask a compiler or a programmer. The compiler
is satisfied if you respect the types. But type classes often come
with additional laws on the operations that programmers have come to
expect. For example, every implementation of the function == of the Eq
class should be an equivalence relation and a Monad instance should
obey the monad laws. Although the compiler does not complain if it
doesn't, users of such an invalid Monad instance eventually will.
Cheers,
Sebastian
--
Underestimating the novelty of the future is a time-honored tradition.
(D.G.)
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