[Haskell-beginners] flip lookup in ghci

[Felipe Lessa]

Let's try to see what is going on using GHCi 6.10.1:

  Prelude> :t lookup
  lookup :: (Eq a) => a -> [(a, b)] -> Maybe b
  Prelude> :t flip lookup
  flip lookup :: (Eq a) => [(a, b)] -> a -> Maybe b

Everything ok. Lets try binding:

  Prelude> let f = flip lookup
  Prelude> :t f
  f :: [((), b)] -> () -> Maybe b

Woops. Whenever you see a type of a function becoming less polymorphic
than you expected, try adding a parameter:

  Prelude> let g x = flip lookup x
  Prelude> :t g
  g :: (Eq a) => [(a, b)] -> a -> Maybe b

Nice! Let's try again without the monomorphism restriction[1]

  Prelude> :s -XNoMonomorphismRestriction
  Prelude> let h = flip lookup
  Prelude> :t h
  h :: (Eq a) => [(a, b)] -> a -> Maybe b
  Prelude> :s -XMonomorphismRestriction

So, that's where the culprit lies! As we declared 'f' without a type
signature and without explicit arguments, the monomorphism restriction
didn't let us overload our function with the 'Eq' class.

Note that if we activated all warnings, GHC would tell us that
something is wrong:

  Prelude> :s -Wall
  Prelude> let j = flip lookup
  <interactive>:1:13:
      Warning: Defaulting the following constraint(s) to type `()'
               `Eq a' arising from a use of `lookup' at <interactive>:1:13-18
      In the first argument of `flip', namely `lookup'
      In the expression: flip lookup
      In the definition of `j': j = flip lookup

We can't just remove the 'Eq' constraint, if we want to refine the
type of 'lookup' then we need to supply something that implements
'Eq'. As GHC doesn't know what you want to do, it just defaults to ().
If, for example, you used the new function in the same let-binding,
GHC would infer another type and show no warnings:

  Prelude> let k = flip lookup; l = k [] (1 :: Int)
  Prelude> :t k
  k :: [(Int, b)] -> Int -> Maybe b

But note that even if you use the function where you defined it, it
can't be polymorphic

  Prelude> let m = flip lookup; n = m [] (1 :: Int); o = m [] (1 :: Double)
  <interactive>:1:52:
      Couldn't match expected type `Int' against inferred type `Double'
      In the second argument of `m', namely `(1 :: Double)'
      In the expression: m [] (1 :: Double)
      In the definition of `o': o = m [] (1 :: Double)

In short: add an explicit parameter or use a type signature. =)

Hope that helps!

[1] http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Monomorphism_restriction

-- 
Felipe.