On 9 Apr 2008, at 11:26, Jules Bean wrote:
Using 'hugs -98', I noticed it accepts:
instance Monad m => Functor m where
fmap f x = x >>= return.f
Has this been considered (say) as a part of the upcoming Haskell
Prime?
This forbids any Functors which are not monads. Unless you allow
overlapping instances...
I see it as a Haskell limitation of not being able to indicate the
function names in the class definition head:
If one could write say
class Monoid (a; unit, mult) where
unit :: a
mult :: a -> a -> a
then it is possible to say
instance Monoid ([]; [], (++)) where
-- 'unit' already defined
-- definition of (++)
Similarly:
class Functor (m; fmap) where
fmap :: (a -> b) -> (m a -> m b)
instance Monad m => Functor (m, mmap) where
mmap f x = x >>= return.f
- For backwards compatibility, if the function names are not
indicated, one gets the declaration names as default.
I don't know if it is possible to extend the syntax this way, but it
would be closer to math usage. And one would avoid duplicate
definitions just to indicate different operator names, like:
class AdditiveMonoid a where
o :: a
(+) :: a -> a -> a
as it could be create using
class Monoid (a; o, (+))
...(which of course would not be h98 any more!).
It does not work in 'hugs +98' mode; if I avoid the Prelude names by:
class Munctor m where
mmap :: (a -> b) -> (m a -> m b)
instance Monad m => Munctor m where
mmap f x = x >>= return.f
I get
ERROR - Syntax error in instance head (constructor expected)
Other solutions, such as class Functor m => Monad m are frequently
discussed.
The point is that Monads have a code lifting property, so the functor
is already conatained in the current definition.
One might want to have away to override, so even if
instance Monad m => Functor (m, mmap)
functor specialization can take place if one has a more efficeint
definition. For example
instance Functor ([], mmap) where
mmap = map
Hans
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