[Haskell-cafe] sum $ map f xs ... ghc-7.10 performance regression?

[Johannes Waldmann]

Is there a difference between "sum $ map f xs" and "sum $! map f xs"?

I would think no, since "$!" just evaluates the argument to WHNF,
so it would evaluate just the first cons of the list.


This little program

main = print $ sum $ map bitcount [0, 4 .. 2^24-1 ]

bitcount :: Int -> Int
bitcount x =
  if x > 0 then let (d,m) = divMod x 2 in bitcount d + m else 0

runs in 1.6 seconds when compiled with -O2
on ghc-7.6.3, ghc-7.8.4,

but takes 3.2 seconds on ghc-7.10.[1-3]. Why?


when I change the main function (note: $ => $!) to

main = print $ sum $! map bitcount [0, 4 .. 2^24-1 ]

and compile with 7.10.[1-3], then it also runs in 1.6 seconds.


(I can write a bug report but I want to check
whether I am missing something obvious)


- J.W.