unsafePerformIO around FFI calls

[Alastair Reid]

Hal Daume <hdaume@ISI.EDU> writes:
> I'm curious exactly what is "safe" and what is "unsafe" to wrap
> unsafePerformIO around when it comes to FFI calls. 

Here's a simple test:

 Could you imagine an alternative implementation of the same API in
 pure Haskell?  (Don't consider efficiency or effort required to write
 the implementation, just whether it can be done.)

 If so, then it is ok to use unsafePerformIO and the ffi to implement
 the API instead.

If it fails that test, it is incredibly unlikely that it is ok and a
proof that it is ok is likely to be pretty complex - maybe worth a
PLDI paper or some such.

--
Alastair Reid                 alastair@reid-consulting-uk.ltd.uk  
Reid Consulting (UK) Limited  http://www.reid-consulting-uk.ltd.uk/alastair/