[Haskell-cafe] Confusing type specialisation in ghci

[David Carter]

Hello,

Can someone elucidate to me this behaviour from ghci 6.6.1? Why is the 
type of sqlist specialised to Integer?

Prelude> let sq x = x * x
Prelude> :t sq
sq :: (Num a) => a -> a
Prelude> sq 2.5
6.25
Prelude> :t map sq
map sq :: (Num a) => [a] -> [a]
Prelude> map sq [2.5]
[6.25]

This is all as I would expect so far, but:

Prelude> let sqlist = map sq
Prelude> :t sqlist
sqlist :: [Integer] -> [Integer]

And indeed, I get

Prelude> sqlist [2.5]

<interactive>:1:8:
    No instance for (Fractional Integer)
    ... etc

Thanks!

David





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