[GHC] #11721: GADT-syntax data constructors don't work well with TypeApplications

[GHC]

#11721: GADT-syntax data constructors don't work well with TypeApplications
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
        Reporter:  goldfire          |                Owner:  RyanGlScott
            Type:  bug               |               Status:  patch
        Priority:  normal            |            Milestone:  8.4.1
       Component:  Compiler          |              Version:  8.1
      Resolution:                    |             Keywords:
                                     |  TypeApplications
Operating System:  Unknown/Multiple  |         Architecture:
                                     |  Unknown/Multiple
 Type of failure:  None/Unknown      |            Test Case:
      Blocked By:                    |             Blocking:
 Related Tickets:  #13848, #12025    |  Differential Rev(s):  Phab:D3687
       Wiki Page:                    |
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------

Comment (by Ben Gamari <ben@…>):

 In [changeset:"ef26182e2014b0a2a029ae466a4b121bf235e4e4/ghc" ef26182/ghc]:
 {{{
 #!CommitTicketReference repository="ghc"
 revision="ef26182e2014b0a2a029ae466a4b121bf235e4e4"
 Track the order of user-written tyvars in DataCon

 After typechecking a data constructor's type signature, its type
 variables are partitioned into two distinct groups: the universally
 quantified type variables and the existentially quantified type
 variables. Then, when prompted for the type of the data constructor,
 GHC gives this:

 ```lang=haskell
 MkT :: forall <univs> <exis>. (...)
 ```

 For H98-style datatypes, this is a fine thing to do. But for GADTs,
 this can sometimes produce undesired results with respect to
 `TypeApplications`. For instance, consider this datatype:

 ```lang=haskell
 data T a where
   MkT :: forall b a. b -> T a
 ```

 Here, the user clearly intended to have `b` be available for visible
 type application before `a`. That is, the user would expect
 `MkT @Int @Char` to be of type `Int -> T Char`, //not//
 `Char -> T Int`. But alas, up until now that was not how GHC
 operated—regardless of the order in which the user actually wrote
 the tyvars, GHC would give `MkT` the type:

 ```lang=haskell
 MkT :: forall a b. b -> T a
 ```

 Since `a` is universal and `b` is existential. This makes predicting
 what order to use for `TypeApplications` quite annoying, as
 demonstrated in #11721 and #13848.

 This patch cures the problem by tracking more carefully the order in
 which a user writes type variables in data constructor type
 signatures, either explicitly (with a `forall`) or implicitly
 (without a `forall`, in which case the order is inferred). This is
 accomplished by adding a new field `dcUserTyVars` to `DataCon`, which
 is a subset of `dcUnivTyVars` and `dcExTyVars` that is permuted to
 the order in which the user wrote them. For more details, refer to
 `Note [DataCon user type variables]` in `DataCon.hs`.

 An interesting consequence of this design is that more data
 constructors require wrappers. This is because the workers always
 expect the first arguments to be the universal tyvars followed by the
 existential tyvars, so when the user writes the tyvars in a different
 order, a wrapper type is needed to swizzle the tyvars around to match
 the order that the worker expects. For more details, refer to
 `Note [Data con wrappers and GADT syntax]` in `MkId.hs`.

 Test Plan: ./validate

 Reviewers: austin, goldfire, bgamari, simonpj

 Reviewed By: goldfire, simonpj

 Subscribers: ezyang, goldfire, rwbarton, thomie

 GHC Trac Issues: #11721, #13848

 Differential Revision: https://phabricator.haskell.org/D3687
 }}}

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/11721#comment:12>
GHC <http://www.haskell.org/ghc/>
The Glasgow Haskell Compiler