[Haskell-cafe] Definition of hidden instance members (bug in GHC or Hugs+Yhc)

[Ross Paterson]

On Sun, Jul 06, 2008 at 12:00:07AM +0100, Neil Mitchell wrote:
> This is either a GHC bug, or a Yhc+Hugs bug - I'm not sure which, but
> the compilers disagree:
> 
> import Prelude hiding ((==))
> data Foo = Foo
> instance Eq Foo where
>     (==) a b = True
> 
> GHC says:
> Temp.hs:14:4: `==' is not a (visible) method of class `Eq'
> 
> Yhc and Hugs both successfully compile the module.
> 
> Does anyone know which compiler(s) are in the wrong, and need bugs filing?

GHC is correct.  Report 4.3.2: "It is illegal to give a binding for a
class method that is not in scope, but the name under which it is in
scope is immaterial; in particular, it may be a qualified name."
In this case neither == nor Prelude.== is in scope.