[Haskell-cafe] type-class inference

[Brandon Allbery]

On Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 18:52, Patrick Browne <patrick.browne at dit.ie> wrote:

> Why does the Haskell :type command only sometimes print the type-class?
>

Haskell infers the most specific type applicable.  If the most specific it
can get is a typeclass, that's what it produces; if it can infer an explicit
type, it will.


> Should I expect type-class inference as well as type inference?
> Maybe the type-class is inferred where possible, but not always printed?
>

Typeclasses are not independent of types, and are not inferred separately
from types.  If you want to know what typeclasses a type is a member of, use
:info.

Haskell supports polymorphism:  a bound expression does not need to have a
single specific type, it can apply to multiple types and adapt itself to the
type at its use site.  Typeclasses are part of how this is accomplished.  So
if a bound expression is polymorphic, you will see its type expressed in
terms of type variables, possibly with typeclass contexts.

-- 
brandon s allbery                                      allbery.b at gmail.com
wandering unix systems administrator (available)     (412) 475-9364 vm/sms
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