[ghc-steering-committee] #330: Decorate exceptions with backtrace information, rec: accept

[Simon Marlow]

High-level we definitely want this, I added a couple of comments to the
GitHub thread to discuss details.

One slightly suboptimal aspect of the proposal is the use of implicit
parameters. The design in Section 8.2
<https://github.com/bgamari/ghc-proposals/blob/stacktraces/proposals/0000-exception-backtraces.rst#82exception-hierarchy-design-alternative-two>
seems much nicer and is only prevented by issues with pattern synonyms.
Couldn't we fix pattern synonyms so this would work?

Cheers
Simon

On Mon, 6 Mar 2023 at 13:44, Vladislav Zavialov <vlad.z.4096 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Dear Committee,
>
> Ben Gamari has proposed #330 "Decorate exceptions with backtrace
> information". Read it here:
>
>
> https://github.com/bgamari/ghc-proposals/blob/stacktraces/proposals/0000-exception-backtraces.rst
>
> The proposal attaches contextual information to thrown exceptions. This
> information includes (but is not limited to) backtraces, making it possible
> to debug uncaught exceptions more effectively.
>
> This is a very nuanced change, since it modifies SomeException, throw,
> catch, and other exception-related definitions whose use is extremely
> widespread. We might end up affecting our users in unexpected ways. Because
> of that, I ask the committee to review the proposal with the appropriate
> amount of care.
>
> I am recommending acceptance because adding observability to our programs
> is an important part of developer ergonomics. From the proposal discussion,
> I have got the impression that there are numerous commercial users who
> would benefit from this.
>
> Please take a look at the proposal text and share your thoughts either
> here or directly on GitHub.
>
> - Vlad
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