[Haskell-cafe] Re: Proposal: TypeDirectedNameResolution

[Richard O'Keefe]

On Jul 29, 2009, at 5:05 AM, Ryan Ingram wrote:
> I see where you are going, but I'm not sure I agree.  Let me give an
> example from another language with this kind of resolution: C++.

Right.  That settles it:  TDNR is a bad idea.
Half fun and full earnest.

I'm a fan of overloading as done in Ada, but the way
C++ does it has always struck me as a mix of under-useful
and over-complex, and my experience with it in practice
has not been that marvellous.  (C++ has far too many
types that are _sort of_ compatible, but only sort of.)

Interestingly, I've found that when I've thought I've wanted
overloading in Haskell, what I've _really_ wanted is
typeclasses, because they give me
  - far more confidence that my code is correct
  - far more _leverage_; "typeful programming" is amazing.