[Haskell-cafe] Type synonyms vs standard types

[Luke Palmer]

On Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 2:21 PM, Olex P <hoknamahn at gmail.com> wrote:
> This idea with new level of abstraction is good but in some cases it can
> make things overcomplicated / less efficient. Does that mean "leave simple
> built-in types as is"?
> But probably that's all is the matter of habit and style.

Well as far as efficiency, these are typically micro-considerations --
you're talking in terms of cycles.  Cross those bridges when you come
to them.

As with overcomplication, the story is the same as with all
abstraction: it's a fine balance between how much work they are to
declare, their cognitive benefit, and how many times they are used.
Haskell has wonderfully lightweight declarations, so that trade-off
favors the new abstraction much more quickly than in other languages.

Luke