Constructor class

[Tom Pledger]

Raul Sierra writes:
 | Hi all,
 | 
 | What is the difference between regular classes and constructor classes
 | and how do you specify  that a class is a constructor class?
 | 
 | Thanks in advance,
 | Raul

The term `constructor class' is meant to include classes like Functor
and Monad, whose instances are type constructors but not types.

    instance Functor Maybe where ...  -- OK, and Functor is a constructor class
    foo :: Maybe                      -- Error, because Maybe isn't a type

    instance Eq () where ...          -- OK, and Eq is a type class
    bar :: ()                         -- OK, because () is a type

There's no particular syntax to distinguish constructor classes from
type classes.  It's inferred from the method signatures.

    class Functor f where
        fmap :: (a -> b) -> (f a -> f b)
    -- Here f's kind is inferred as *->* (unary type constructor)

    class Eq a where
        (==), (/=) :: a -> a -> Bool
    -- Here a's kind is inferred as * (nullary type constructor, or type)

Here's a previous thread about kind inference, if you're interested.
http://haskell.cs.yale.edu/pipermail/haskell/2001-February/000489.html

Regards,
Tom