[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> * import and infix declarations anywhere in a module?
>
> I am against this proposal. Collecting all such declarations
> at the head of the module is better for human readers. Allowing
> them anywhere would also complicate and slow down program analysis
> that only requires module dependencies (eg. Haskell-specific `make'
> tools).
I disagree.
- on the first point that it's easier for human readers: surely
it makes more sense to put the fixity declaration for an operator
next to the definition of the operator itself?
And for imports, it could be really handy to put the import
declaration for a function next to the use of the function,
especially when you're only using the function temporarily (so
you don't forget to remove the import later!). In fact, I
think it would be nicer to not require import declarations at
at all for qualified entities.
- on the second point that it's easier for computer readers: what
could be simpler than 'look through the whole file and pick
out the imports'.
Other good reasons for relaxing this restriction:
- it would simplify the grammar
- parsing is easier
Possible drawbacks:
- with fixities and imports at the top, it might be possible to
resolve infix expressions during parsing. Neither Hugs nor
GHC nor nhc do this.
Cheers,
Simon
--
Simon Marlow [EMAIL PROTECTED]
University of Glasgow http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~simonm/
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