[Haskell-cafe] Base classes can be _ELIMINATED_ with interfaces

Shelby Moore shelby at coolpage.com
Mon Nov 2 18:47:54 EST 2009


> Shelby Moore wrote:
>> ...A "type class" is a polymorphic
>> (relative to data type) interface, and the polymorphism is strictly
>> parameterized for the client/consumer of the interface, i.e. the data
>> type
>> is known to the function that inputs the interface AT COMPILE TIME.
>
>>...A problem with virtual (runtime pointer) inheritance is that it hides
>> the subclass from the compiler.
>
>
> I emphasize that in Haskell, the consuming function knows the interface at
> compile time (or it can allow the compiler to infer it, if no type class
> restriction is specified).

Caveat follows.

The fundamental theorems I mentioned (
http://www.haskell.org/pipermail/haskell-cafe/2009-November/068432.html ),
can not be voided by any programming language that is Turing complete.

Thus, it is no surprise that dynamic run-time typing is achievable in
Haskell[1], basically a punt of the attempt of strict typing exponential
local order (which the theorems predict _MUST_ happen in some cases,
unless there is no state diagram), to run-time nondeterminism due to
Liskov Substitution Principle (and Linsky Referencing).

Alas (good news!), local exponential order wins in vast majority of common
use cases in Haskell because it is also possible to use static
compile-time typing[1], which I assert is because the static typing
architecture is granular and orthogonal.

[1]
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/simonpj/papers/papers.html#language
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/simonpj/papers/hmap/gmap3.pdf
Ralf Laemmel and Simon Peyton Jones. "Scrap your boilerplate: a practical
approach to generic programming", Proc ACM SIGPLAN Workshop on Types in
Language Design and Implementation (TLDI 2003), New Orleans, pp26-37, Jan
2003



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