.. _release-8-2-1:
Release notes for version 8.2.1
===============================
The significant changes to the various parts of the compiler are listed
in the following sections. There have also been numerous bug fixes and
performance improvements over the 8.0 branch.
Highlights
----------
The highlights since the 8.0 release include:
- A new, more expressive ``Typeable`` mechanism, ``Type.Reflection``
- Colorful error messages with caret diagnostics
- SCC annotations can now be used for declarations.
- Heap overflow throws an exception in certain circumstances.
- Improved code generation of join points
- Deriving strategies
- Compact regions support, allowing efficient garbage collection of large heaps
- More reliable DWARF debug information
Full details
------------
Package system
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- The long awaited Backpack module system is now fully usable. See
:ghc-wiki:`the GHC Wiki <Backpack>` for details.
Language
~~~~~~~~
- Pattern synonym signatures can now be applied to multiple patterns, just like
value-level binding signatures. See :ref:`patsyn-typing` for details.
- It is now possible to explicitly pick a strategy to use when deriving a
class instance using the :ghc-flag:`-XDerivingStrategies` language extension
(see :ref:`deriving-strategies`).
- The new :ghc-flag:`-XUnboxedSums` extension allows more efficient representation
of sum data. Some future GHC release will have support for worker/wrapper
transformation of sum arguments and constructor unpacking.
- Support for overloaded record fields via a new ``HasField`` class and
associated compiler logic (see :ref:`record-field-selector-polymorphism`)
- GHC now recognizes the ``COMPLETE`` language pragma, allowing the user to
specify sets of patterns (including pattern synonyms) which constitute a
complete pattern match. See :ref:`complete-pragma` for details.
Compiler
~~~~~~~~
- GHC will now use ``ld.gold`` or ``ld.lld`` instead of the system's default
``ld``, if available. Linker availability will be evaluated at ``configure``
time. The user can manually override which linker to use by passing the ``LD``
variable to ``configure``. You can revert to the old behavior of using the
system's default ``ld`` by passing the ``--disable-ld-override`` flag to
``configure``.
- GHC now uses section splitting (i.e. :ghc-flag:`-split-sections`) instead of
object splitting (i.e. :ghc-flag:`-split-objs`) as the default mechanism for
linker-based dead code removal. While the effect is the same, split sections
tends to produce significantly smaller objects than split objects and more
closely mirrors the approach used by other compilers. Split objects will
be deprecated and eventually removed in a future GHC release.
Note that some versions of the ubiquitous BFD linker exhibit performance
trouble with large libraries with section splitting enabled (see
:ghc-ticket:`13739`). It is recommended that you use either the ``gold`` or
``lld`` linker if you observe this. This will require that you install one of
these compilers, rerun ``configure``, and reinstall GHC.
Split sections is enabled by default in the official binary distributions for
platforms that support it.
- Old profiling flags ``-auto-all``, ``-auto``, and ``-caf-all`` are deprecated
and their usage provokes a compile-time warning.
- Support for adding cost centres to declarations is added. The same ``SCC``
syntax can be used, in addition to a new form for specifying the cost centre
name. See :ref:`scc-pragma` for examples.
- GHC is now much more particular about :ghc-flag:`-XDefaultSignatures`. The
type signature for a default method of a type class must now be the same as
the corresponding main method's type signature modulo differences in the
signatures' contexts. Otherwise, the typechecker will reject that class's
definition. See :ref:`class-default-signatures` for further details.
- :ghc-flag:`-XDeriveAnyClass` is no longer limited to type classes whose
argument is of kind ``*`` or ``* -> *``.
- The means by which :ghc-flag:`-XDeriveAnyClass` infers instance contexts has
been completely overhauled. The instance context is now inferred using the
type signatures (and default type signatures) of the derived class's methods
instead of using the datatype's definition, which often led to
over-constrained instances or instances that didn't typecheck (or worse,
triggered GHC panics). See the section on
:ref:`DeriveAnyClass <derive-any-class>` for more details.
- GHC now allows standalone deriving using :ghc-flag:`-XDeriveAnyClass` on
any data type, even if its data constructors are not in scope. This is
consistent with the fact that this code (in the presence of
:ghc-flag:`-XDeriveAnyClass`): ::
deriving instance C T
is exactly equivalent to: ::
instance C T
and the latter code has no restrictions about whether the data constructors
of ``T`` are in scope.
- :ghc-flag:`-XGeneralizedNewtypeDeriving` now supports deriving type classes
with associated type families. See the section on
:ref:`GeneralizedNewtypeDeriving and associated type families
<gnd-and-associated-types>`.
- :ghc-flag:`-XGeneralizedNewtypeDeriving` will no longer infer constraints
when deriving a class with no methods. That is, this code: ::
class Throws e
newtype Id a = MkId a
deriving Throws
will now generate this instance: ::
instance Throws (Id a)
instead of this instance: ::
instance Throws a => Throws (Id a)
This change was motivated by the fact that the latter code has a strictly
redundant ``Throws a`` constraint, so it would emit a warning when compiled
with :ghc-flag:`-Wredundant-constraints`. The latter instance could still
be derived if so desired using :ghc-flag:`-XStandaloneDeriving`: ::
deriving instance Throws a => Throws (Id a)
- Add warning flag :ghc-flag:`-Wcpp-undef` which passes ``-Wundef`` to the C
pre-processor causing the pre-processor to warn on uses of the ``#if``
directive on undefined identifiers.
- GHC will no longer automatically infer the kind of higher-rank type synonyms;
you must explicitly explicitly annotate the synonym with a kind signature.
For example, given::
data T :: (forall k. k -> Type) -> Type
to define a synonym of ``T``, you must write::
type TSyn = (T :: (forall k. k -> Type) -> Type)
- The Mingw-w64 toolchain for the Windows version of GHC has been updated. GHC now uses
`GCC 6.2.0` and `binutils 2.27`.
- Previously, :ghc-flag:`-Wmissing-methods` would not warn whenever a type
class method beginning with an underscore was not implemented in an instance.
For instance, this code would compile without any warnings: ::
class Foo a where
_Bar :: a -> Int
instance Foo Int
:ghc-flag:`-Wmissing-methods` will now warn that ``_Bar`` is not implemented
in the ``Foo Int`` instance.
- A new flag :ghc-flag:`-ddump-json` has been added. This flag dumps compiler
output as JSON documents. It is experimental and will be refined depending
on feedback from tooling authors for the next release.
- GHC is now able to better optimize polymorphic expressions by using known
superclass dictionaries where possible. Some examples: ::
-- uses of `Monad IO` or `Applicative IO` here are improved
foo :: MonadBaseControl IO m => ...
-- uses of `Monoid MyMonoid` here are improved
bar :: MonadWriter MyMonoid m => ...
- GHC now derives the definition of ``<$`` when using :ghc-flag:`-XDeriveFunctor`
rather than using the default definition. This prevents unnecessary
allocation and a potential space leak when deriving ``Functor`` for
a recursive type.
- The :ghc-flag:`-XExtendedDefaultRules` extension now defaults multi-parameter
typeclasses. See :ghc-ticket:`12923`.
- GHC now ignores ``RULES`` for data constructors (:ghc-ticket:`13290`).
Previously, it accepted::
{-# RULES "NotAllowed" forall x. Just x = e #-}
That rule will no longer take effect, and a warning will be issued. ``RULES``
may still mention data constructors, but not in the outermost position::
{-# RULES "StillWorks" forall x. f (Just x) = e #-}
- Type synonyms can no longer appear in the class position of an instance.
This means something like this is no longer allowed: ::
type ReadShow a = (Read a, Show a)
instance Read Foo
instance Show Foo
instance ReadShow Foo -- illegal
See :ghc-ticket:`13267`.
- Validity checking for associated type family instances has tightened
somewhat. Before, this would be accepted: ::
class Foo a where
type Bar a
instance Foo (Either a b) where
type Bar (Either c d) = d -> c
This is now disallowed, as the type variables used in the `Bar` instance do
not match those in the instance head. This instance can be fixed by changing
it to: ::
instance Foo (Either a b) where
type Bar (Either a b) = b -> a
See the section on :ref:`associated type family instances <assoc-data-inst>`
for more information.
- A bug involving the interaction between :ghc-flag:`-XMonoLocalBinds` and
:ghc-flag:`-XPolyKinds` has been fixed. This can cause some programs to fail
to typecheck in case explicit kind signatures are not provided. See
:ref:`kind-generalisation` for an example.
GHCi
~~~~
- Added :ghc-flag:`-flocal-ghci-history` which uses current directory for `.ghci-history`.
- Added support for :ghc-flag:`-XStaticPointers` in interpreted modules. Note, however,
that ``static`` expressions are still not allowed in expressions evaluated in the REPL.
- Added support for :ghci-cmd:`:type +d` and :ghci-cmd:`:type +v`. (:ghc-ticket:`11975`)
Template Haskell
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Reifying types that contain unboxed tuples now works correctly. (Previously,
Template Haskell reified unboxed tuples as boxed tuples with twice their
appropriate arity.)
- Splicing singleton unboxed tuple types (e.g., ``(# Int #)``) now works
correctly. Previously, Template Haskell would implicitly remove the
parentheses when splicing, which would turn ``(# Int #)`` into ``Int``.
- Add support for type signatures in patterns. (:ghc-ticket:`12164`)
- Make quoting and reification return the same types. (:ghc-ticket:`11629`)
- More kind annotations appear in the left-hand sides of reified closed
type family equations, in order to disambiguate types that would otherwise
be ambiguous in the presence of :ghc-flag:`-XPolyKinds`.
(:ghc-ticket:`12646`)
- Quoted type signatures are more accurate with respect to implicitly
quantified type variables. Before, if you quoted this: ::
[d| id :: a -> a
id x = x
|]
then the code that Template Haskell would give back to you would actually be
this instead: ::
id :: forall a. a -> a
id x = x
That is, quoting would explicitly quantify all type variables, even ones
that were implicitly quantified in the source. This could be especially
harmful if a kind variable was implicitly quantified. For example, if
you took this quoted declaration: ::
[d| idProxy :: forall proxy (b :: k). proxy b -> proxy b
idProxy x = x
|]
and tried to splice it back in, you'd get this instead: ::
idProxy :: forall k proxy (b :: k). proxy b -> proxy b
idProxy x = x
Now ``k`` is explicitly quantified, and that requires turning on
:ghc-flag:`-XTypeInType`, whereas the original declaration did not!
Template Haskell quoting now respects implicit quantification in type
signatures, so the quoted declarations above now correctly leave the
type variables ``a`` and ``k`` as implicitly quantified.
(:ghc-ticket:`13018` and :ghc-ticket:`13123`)
- Looking up type constructors with symbol names (e.g., ``+``) now works
as expected (:ghc-ticket:`11046`)
Runtime system
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Heap overflow throws a catchable exception, provided that it was detected
by the RTS during a GC cycle due to the program exceeding a limit set by
``+RTS -M`` (see :rts-flag:`-M ⟨size⟩`), and not due to an allocation being refused
by the operating system. This exception is thrown to the same thread that
receives ``UserInterrupt`` exceptions, and may be caught by user programs.
- Added support for *Compact Regions*, which offer a way to manually
move long-lived data outside of the heap so that the garbage
collector does not have to trace it repeatedly. Compacted data can
also be serialized, stored, and deserialized again later by the same
program. For more details see the :ghc-compact-ref:`GHC.Compact
<GHC-Compact.html>` module. Moreover, see the ``compact`` library on `Hackage
<https://hackage.haskell.org/package/compact>`_ for a high-level interface.
- There is new support for improving performance on machines with a
Non-Uniform Memory Architecture (NUMA). See :rts-flag:`--numa`.
This is supported on Linux and Windows systems.
- The garbage collector can be told to use fewer threads than the
global number of capabilities set by :rts-flag:`-N ⟨x⟩`. By default, the garbage
collector will use a number of threads equal to the lesser of the global number
of capabilities or the number of physical cores. See :rts-flag:`-qn ⟨x⟩`, and a
`blog post <http://simonmar.github.io/posts/2016-12-08-Haskell-in-the-datacentre.html>`_
that describes this.
- The :ref:`heap profiler <prof-heap>` can now emit heap census data to the GHC
event log, allowing heap profiles to be correlated with other tracing events
(see :ghc-ticket:`11094`).
- Some bugs have been fixed in the stack-trace implementation in the
profiler that sometimes resulted in incorrect stack traces and
costs attributed to the wrong cost centre stack (see :ghc-ticket:`5654`).
- Added processor group support for Windows. This allows the runtime to allocate
threads to all cores in systems which have multiple processor groups.
(e.g. > 64 cores, see :ghc-ticket:`11054`)
- Output of :ref:`Event log <rts-eventlog>` data can now be configured,
enabling external tools to collect and analyze the event log data while the
application is still running.
- ``advapi32``, ``shell32`` and ``user32`` are now automatically loaded in GHCi.
``libGCC`` is also loaded when a dependency requires it. See
:ghc-ticket:`13189`.
hsc2hs
~~~~~~
- Version number 0.68.2
Libraries
---------
array
~~~~~
- Version number 0.5.2.0 (was 0.5.0.0)
.. _lib-base:
base
~~~~
See ``changelog.md`` in the ``base`` package for full release notes.
- Version number 4.10.0.0 (was 4.9.0.0)
- ``Data.Either`` now provides ``fromLeft`` and ``fromRight``
- ``Data.Type.Coercion`` now provides ``gcoerceWith``, which is analogous to
``gcastWith`` from ``Data.Type.Equality``.
- The ``Read1`` and ``Read2`` classes in ``Data.Functor.Classes`` have new
methods, ``liftReadList(2)`` and ``liftReadListPrec(2)``, that are defined in
terms of ``ReadPrec`` instead of ``ReadS``. This matches the interface
provided in GHC's version of the ``Read`` class, and allows users to write
more efficient ``Read1`` and ``Read2`` instances.
- Add ``type family AppendSymbol (m :: Symbol) (n :: Symbol) :: Symbol`` to
``GHC.TypeLits``
- Add ``GHC.TypeNats`` module with ``Natural``-based ``KnownNat``. The ``Nat``
operations in ``GHC.TypeLits`` are a thin compatibility layer on top.
Note: the ``KnownNat`` evidence is changed from an ``Integer`` to a ``Natural``.
- ``liftA2`` is now a method of the ``Applicative`` class. ``Traversable``
deriving has been modified to use ``liftA2`` for the first two elements
traversed in each constructor. ``liftA2`` is not yet in the ``Prelude``,
and must currently be imported from ``Control.Applicative``. It is likely
to be added to the ``Prelude`` in the future.
binary
~~~~~~
- Version number 0.8.5.1 (was 0.7.1.0)
bytestring
~~~~~~~~~~
- Version number 0.10.8.2 (was 0.10.4.0)
Cabal
~~~~~
- Version number 2.0.0.0 (was 1.24.2.0)
containers
~~~~~~~~~~
- Version number 0.5.10.2 (was 0.5.4.0)
deepseq
~~~~~~~
- Version number 1.4.3.0 (was 1.3.0.2)
directory
~~~~~~~~~
- Version number 1.3.0.2 (was 1.2.0.2)
filepath
~~~~~~~~
- Version number 1.4.1.2 (was 1.3.0.2)
ghc
~~~
- Version number 8.2.1
ghc-boot
~~~~~~~~
- This is an internal package. Use with caution.
ghc-compact
~~~~~~~~~~~
The ``ghc-compact`` library provides an experimental API for placing immutable
data structures into a contiguous memory region. Data in these regions is not
traced during garbage collection and can be serialized to disk or over the
network.
- Version number 0.1.0.0 (newly added)
ghc-prim
~~~~~~~~
- Version number 0.5.1.0 (was 0.3.1.0)
- Added new ``isByteArrayPinned#`` and ``isMutableByteArrayPinned#`` operation.
- New function ``noinline`` in ``GHC.Magic`` lets you mark that a function
should not be inlined. It is optimized away after the simplifier runs.
hoopl
~~~~~
- Version number 3.10.2.2 (was 3.10.2.1)
hpc
~~~
- Version number 0.6.0.3 (was 0.6.0.2)
integer-gmp
~~~~~~~~~~~
- Version number 1.0.0.1 (was 1.0.0.1)
process
~~~~~~~
- Version number 1.6.1.0 (was 1.4.3.0)
template-haskell
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Version 2.12.0.0 (was 2.11.1.0)
- Added support for unboxed sums :ghc-ticket:`12478`.
- Added support for visible type applications :ghc-ticket:`12530`.
time
~~~~
- Version number 1.8.0.1 (was 1.6.0.1)
unix
~~~~
- Version number 2.7.2.2 (was 2.7.2.1)
Win32
~~~~~
- Version number 2.5.4.1 (was 2.3.1.1)
Known bugs
----------
- At least one known program regresses in compile time significantly over 8.0.
See :ghc-ticket:`13535`.
- Some uses of type applications may cause GHC to panic. See :ghc-ticket:`13819`.
- The compiler may loop during typechecking on some modules using
:ghc-flag:`-XUndecidableInstances`. See :ghc-ticket:`13943`.