Resolving Ambiguous Types

[Jared Warren]

Thanks to Tom Pledger, Brian Boutel, and Keith Wansbrough for helping me
with my last type problem, but now I have another one: :)

-----

I understand why it is impossible to infer the intermediate type in
`show . read`, but I was hoping someone could help me grasp why this
(and only this) is problematic:

> class Fooable a where foo :: a
> instance Fooable Char where foo = '0'

> class Barable a where bar :: a -> String
> instance Barable Char where bar = const "Zero"

`bar foo` generates an ambiguous type error; but anyone can
deterministically see that there is only one intermediate type that
satisfies the classes. Why can't the compiler figure it out?

Are there any compiler directives, language extensions, or Template
Haskell tricks I can use to make the compiler smarten up? (The
requirements of my project rule out explicit type signatures.) If not,
does anyone know if Chameleon's type system can avoid this problem?

Thanks for your help, 
~ Jared Warren <warren at cs.queensu.ca>
Computing Science, Queen's University