[Haskell] deriving with newtypes

[Brandon Michael Moore]

On Fri, 2 Apr 2004, Simon Peyton-Jones wrote:

> Your word is my command. 'Tis done.
>
> Simon
>
> | -----Original Message-----
> | From: haskell-bounces at haskell.org [mailto:haskell-bounces at haskell.org]
> On Behalf Of Wolfgang
> | Jeltsch
> | Sent: 21 March 2004 17:55
> | To: The Haskell Mailing List
> | Subject: [Haskell] deriving with newtypes
> |
> | Hello,
> |
> | I'm trying to use GHC's deriving mechanism for newtypes in the
> following way:
> |     class C a b
> |     instance C [a] Char
> |     newtype T = T Char deriving C [a]
> | Unfortunately, this isn't possible. Is there a reason for this? Can I
> | circumvent this restriction?
> |
> | Wolfgang

It looks like this lets you use partially applied type classes in a
deriving clause, always apllying that class to the new type last. This
looks nice, but wouldn't work so well if your newtype was supposed to go
first

class C a b
instance Char [a]
newtype T = T Char deriving C ??

Maybe a deriving clause should allow full instance heads instead as well
as class names, so you could write "deriving C T [a]". (Maybe with
some restrictions, like ensuring the new type appears, or is one of the
class arguments).

It seems more regular to allow you to derive an instance of a
multi-paramater typeclass with your class in any position rather than just
the last.

Brandon