[GHC] #4479: Add Type Directed Name Resolution

[GHC]

#4479: Add Type Directed Name Resolution
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        Reporter:  gidyn                    |            Owner:
            Type:  feature request          |           Status:  new
        Priority:  low                      |        Milestone:  7.6.2
       Component:  Compiler (Type checker)  |          Version:  7.5
      Resolution:                           |         Keywords:
Operating System:  Unknown/Multiple         |     Architecture:
 Type of failure:  None/Unknown             |  Unknown/Multiple
       Test Case:                           |       Difficulty:  Unknown
        Blocking:                           |       Blocked By:
                                            |  Related Tickets:
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Changes (by guest):

 * difficulty:   => Unknown


Comment:

 What's the estimated difficulty of implementing TDNR? I have for a long
 time been interested in this language feature in particular and now I'm
 about to start on my master's thesis, which is about a semester of
 dedicated work.

 What got me so interested in this feature is that you have to repeat
 yourself in record syntax, like `data MyRecord = MyRecord { myRecordLength
 :: Int, myRecordWidth :: Int}` rather than just `data MyRecord = MyRecord
 { length :: Int, width :: Int}`. I found that frustrating and I wondered
 why nobody else have went ahead and implemented this language feature yet.
 Now I found myself with one semester of time to do something like this.

 Is there any high-level sketch of the implementation on top of SPJ's head?
 Or is it still not clear which approach is best for doing type checking
 and name resolution at the same time?

 Finally, if you think this is too difficult for a somebody who have not
 hacked ghc before. Would you suggest him to make a prototype in a smaller
 haskell compiler?

 Best,
 Arash Rouhani
 rarash at student.chalmers.se

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/4479#comment:14>
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