[GHC] #12465: Evil idea: Allow empty record field update syntax for types.

[GHC]

#12465: Evil idea: Allow empty record field update syntax for types.
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        Reporter:  Iceland_jack      |                Owner:
            Type:  feature request   |               Status:  new
        Priority:  normal            |            Milestone:
       Component:  Compiler          |              Version:  8.0.1
      Resolution:                    |             Keywords:
Operating System:  Unknown/Multiple  |         Architecture:
                                     |  Unknown/Multiple
 Type of failure:  None/Unknown      |            Test Case:
      Blocked By:                    |             Blocking:
 Related Tickets:                    |  Differential Rev(s):
       Wiki Page:                    |
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Description changed by Iceland_jack:

@@ -60,1 +60,1 @@
- @Vector{}` to `show @Vector`, `show @(Vector _n)` or `show @(Vector _n
+ @Vector{}` as `show @Vector`, `show @(Vector _n)` or `show @(Vector _n

New description:

 Use case: Visible type application.

 I often work with constructors with many arguments that I want to
 instantiate type variables with:

 {{{#!hs
 show @(Vector _ _)
   :: Show a => Vector n a -> String

 -- Type arguments reversed, see
 https://github.com/ekmett/distributive/pull/18
 cotraverse @_ @(Vector _)
   :: (NATTY n, Functor f) => (f a -> b) -> (f (Vector n a) -> Vector n a')

 fmap @(Bazaar _ _ _)
   :: (t -> t') -> (Bazaar p a b t -> Bazaar p a b t')

 show @(Magma _ _ _ _)
   :: (Show a, Show i) => Magma i t b a -> String
 }}}

 This makes no sense since types have nothing to do with record or updates
 thereof but that syntax is often used to avoid parentheses and unneeded
 wildcard arguments:

 {{{#!hs
 isBar (Bar _ _ _ _ _) = True

 -- ===>

 isBar Bar{} = True
 }}}

 This also means you don't need to worry about the kind of your constructor
 wrt the type (class) variable it instantiates.

 ----

 Thus the proposal is to allow:

 {{{#!hs
 show @Vector{}
   :: Show a => Vector n a -> String

 cotraverse @_ @Vector{}
   :: (NATTY n, Functor f) => (f a -> b) -> (f (Vector n a) -> Vector n a')

 fmap @Bazaar{}
   :: (t -> t') -> (Bazaar p a b t -> Bazaar p a b t')

 show @Magma{}
   :: (Show a, Show i) => Magma i t b a -> String
 }}}

 ----

 This would save quite a few keystrokes in my daily coding but more
 importantly it saves cognitive load but I expect raised eyebrows
 (especially since GHC would have to determine whether to interpret `show
 @Vector{}` as `show @Vector`, `show @(Vector _n)` or `show @(Vector _n
 _a)`).

--

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Ticket URL: <http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/12465#comment:3>
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