[Haskell-cafe] Re: Efficient or predictable Ord for Typeable

[George Russell]

Simon Peyton-Jones wrote:
> The trouble is that *any* "function" can now deliver unpredictable
> results.  Can I rely on the fact that
> 	foo :: Int -> Int
> will always give the same answer given the same input.  Not any more.

Yes, I see what you mean.

> I think the strongest argument here is that it's like a more benign
> version of unsafePerformIO, whose existence also threatens foo's
> predictability.

I suggest you implement

    hashTypeable :: Typeable -> IO Int32

This would be just as useful for global variables/execution contexts
as allowing a hash function which doesn't mention IO, but still preserves
determinacy for foo :: Int -> Int.  Determinacy for foo :: Int -> IO Int
won't be preserved, but then of course you didn't have it in the first place,
even with Haskell 98.

If there were a Hash class (I think there should be), then it might in general
be a good idea to define it by

 >   class Hash a where
 >      hash :: a -> IO HashInt

You don't need a pure function for this after all.