[Haskell-cafe] Re: Packages and modules

[Brian Hulley]

Brian Hulley wrote:
> Simon Peyton-Jones wrote:
>> http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/GhcPackages
>
> I think the following is a non-question:
>
>      An open question: if A.B.C is in the package being compiled,
>      and in an exposed package, and you say import A.B.C,
>      do you get an error ("ambiguous import"), or does the current
>      package override.
>
> because if the suggested syntax is used, import directives come in two
> flavours: ones that use "from" to import from a different package and
> ones  that don't use "from" and therefore must refer to the current
> package. There would be no such thing as an "exposed" package
> (afaiu the idea of "exposure" is only needed in the context of
> different packages needing to share the same module namespace,
> which the proposal will hopefully make a thing of the past).

I wonder if the wiki question refers to issues of backwards compatibility 
with the existing module system? Ie do you want to keep the existing module 
system with (all exposed) packages sharing the same module space at the same 
time as having a new module system with per-package namespaces?

To allow both to exist simultaneously, I suggest a new keyword (and improved 
syntax below) to mark a per-package namespace import so that existing code 
using "import A.B.C" would still refer to the existing overlapped namespaces 
so that there wouldn't be any problems with backwards compatibility (except 
for the introduction of a new keyword) eg:

      use "base"
              Prelude hiding(length)
              qualified Data.List as List

      use A.B.C -- from current package

      import P.Q.R  -- deprecated old-style import from current + exposed 
packages

With this new syntax, my answer to the wiki question would be that the 
compiler should respond to "import A.B.C" where A.B.C is in an exposed 
package exactly as it does at the moment, whatever way that is, since people 
can always choose to resolve the ambiguity properly using the new syntax.

Regards, Brian.
-- 
Logic empowers us and Love gives us purpose.
Yet still phantoms restless for eras long past,
congealed in the present in unthought forms,
strive mightily unseen to destroy us.

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