6.6.4. Deriving instances of extra classes (Data, etc.)

Haskell 98 allows the programmer to add “deriving( Eq, Ord )” to a data type declaration, to generate a standard instance declaration for classes specified in the deriving clause. In Haskell 98, the only classes that may appear in the deriving clause are the standard classes Eq, Ord, Enum, Ix, Bounded, Read, and Show.

GHC extends this list with several more classes that may be automatically derived:

  • With DeriveGeneric, you can derive instances of the classes Generic and Generic1, defined in GHC.Generics. You can use these to define generic functions, as described in Generic programming.
  • With DeriveFunctor, you can derive instances of the class Functor, defined in GHC.Base.
  • With DeriveDataTypeable, you can derive instances of the class Data, defined in Data.Data.
  • With DeriveFoldable, you can derive instances of the class Foldable, defined in Data.Foldable.
  • With DeriveTraversable, you can derive instances of the class Traversable, defined in Data.Traversable. Since the Traversable instance dictates the instances of Functor and Foldable, you’ll probably want to derive them too, so DeriveTraversable implies DeriveFunctor and DeriveFoldable.
  • With DeriveLift, you can derive instances of the class Lift, defined in the Language.Haskell.TH.Syntax module of the template-haskell package.

You can also use a standalone deriving declaration instead (see Stand-alone deriving declarations).

In each case the appropriate class must be in scope before it can be mentioned in the deriving clause.

6.6.4.1. Deriving Functor instances

DeriveFunctor
Implied by:DeriveTraversable
Since:7.10.1
Status:Included in GHC2024, GHC2021

Allow automatic deriving of instances for the Functor typeclass.

With DeriveFunctor, one can derive Functor instances for data types of kind Type -> Type. For example, this declaration:

data Example a = Ex a Char (Example a) (Example Char)
  deriving Functor

would generate the following instance:

instance Functor Example where
  fmap f (Ex a1 a2 a3 a4) = Ex (f a1) a2 (fmap f a3) a4

The basic algorithm for DeriveFunctor walks the arguments of each constructor of a data type, applying a mapping function depending on the type of each argument. If a plain type variable is found that is syntactically equivalent to the last type parameter of the data type (a in the above example), then we apply the function f directly to it. If a type is encountered that is not syntactically equivalent to the last type parameter but does mention the last type parameter somewhere in it, then a recursive call to fmap is made. If a type is found which doesn’t mention the last type parameter at all, then it is left alone.

The second of those cases, in which a type is unequal to the type parameter but does contain the type parameter, can be surprisingly tricky. For example, the following example compiles:

newtype Right a = Right (Either Int a) deriving Functor

Modifying the code slightly, however, produces code which will not compile:

newtype Wrong a = Wrong (Either a Int) deriving Functor

The difference involves the placement of the last type parameter, a. In the Right case, a occurs within the type Either Int a, and moreover, it appears as the last type argument of Either. In the Wrong case, however, a is not the last type argument to Either; rather, Int is.

This distinction is important because of the way DeriveFunctor works. The derived Functor Right instance would be:

instance Functor Right where
  fmap f (Right a) = Right (fmap f a)

Given a value of type Right a, GHC must produce a value of type Right b. Since the argument to the Right constructor has type Either Int a, the code recursively calls fmap on it to produce a value of type Either Int b, which is used in turn to construct a final value of type Right b.

The generated code for the Functor Wrong instance would look exactly the same, except with Wrong replacing every occurrence of Right. The problem is now that fmap is being applied recursively to a value of type Either a Int. This cannot possibly produce a value of type Either b Int, as fmap can only change the last type parameter! This causes the generated code to be ill-typed.

As a general rule, if a data type has a derived Functor instance and its last type parameter occurs on the right-hand side of the data declaration, then either it must (1) occur bare (e.g., newtype Id a = Id a), or (2) occur as the last argument of a type constructor (as in Right above).

There are two exceptions to this rule:

  1. Tuple types. When a non-unit tuple is used on the right-hand side of a data declaration, DeriveFunctor treats it as a product of distinct types. In other words, the following code:

    newtype Triple a = Triple (a, Int, [a]) deriving Functor

    Would result in a generated Functor instance like so:

    instance Functor Triple where
  fmap f (Triple a) =
    Triple (case a of
                 (a1, a2, a3) -> (f a1, a2, fmap f a3))

    That is, DeriveFunctor pattern-matches its way into tuples and maps over each type that constitutes the tuple. The generated code is reminiscent of what would be generated from data Triple a = Triple a Int [a], except with extra machinery to handle the tuple.

  2. Function types. The last type parameter can appear anywhere in a function type as long as it occurs in a covariant position. To illustrate what this means, consider the following three examples:

    newtype CovFun1 a = CovFun1 (Int -> a) deriving Functor
newtype CovFun2 a = CovFun2 ((a -> Int) -> a) deriving Functor
newtype CovFun3 a = CovFun3 (((Int -> a) -> Int) -> a) deriving Functor

    All three of these examples would compile without issue. On the other hand:

    newtype ContraFun1 a = ContraFun1 (a -> Int) deriving Functor
newtype ContraFun2 a = ContraFun2 ((Int -> a) -> Int) deriving Functor
newtype ContraFun3 a = ContraFun3 (((a -> Int) -> a) -> Int) deriving Functor

    While these examples look similar, none of them would successfully compile. This is because all occurrences of the last type parameter a occur in contravariant positions, not covariant ones.

    Intuitively, a covariant type is produced, and a contravariant type is consumed. Most types in Haskell are covariant, but the function type is special in that the lefthand side of a function arrow reverses variance. If a function type a -> b appears in a covariant position (e.g., CovFun1 above), then a is in a contravariant position and b is in a covariant position. Similarly, if a -> b appears in a contravariant position (e.g., CovFun2 above), then a is in a covariant position and b is in a contravariant position.

    To see why a data type with a contravariant occurrence of its last type parameter cannot have a derived Functor instance, let’s suppose that a Functor ContraFun1 instance exists. The implementation would look something like this:

    instance Functor ContraFun1 where
  fmap f (ContraFun g) = ContraFun (\x -> _)

    We have f :: a -> b, g :: a -> Int, and x :: b. Using these, we must somehow fill in the hole (denoted with an underscore) with a value of type Int. What are our options?

    We could try applying g to x. This won’t work though, as g expects an argument of type a, and x :: b. Even worse, we can’t turn x into something of type a, since f also needs an argument of type a! In short, there’s no good way to make this work.

    On the other hand, a derived Functor instances for the CovFuns are within the realm of possibility:

    instance Functor CovFun1 where
  fmap f (CovFun1 g) = CovFun1 (\x -> f (g x))

instance Functor CovFun2 where
  fmap f (CovFun2 g) = CovFun2 (\h -> f (g (\x -> h (f x))))

instance Functor CovFun3 where
  fmap f (CovFun3 g) = CovFun3 (\h -> f (g (\k -> h (\x -> f (k x)))))

There are some other scenarios in which a derived Functor instance will fail to compile:

  1. A data type has no type parameters (e.g., data Nothing = Nothing).

  2. A data type’s last type variable is used in a DatatypeContexts constraint (e.g., data Ord a => O a = O a).

  3. A data type’s last type variable is used in an ExistentialQuantification constraint, or is refined in a GADT. For example,

    data T a b where
    T4 :: Ord b => b -> T a b
    T5 :: b -> T b b
    T6 :: T a (b,b)

deriving instance Functor (T a)

    would not compile successfully due to the way in which b is constrained.

When the last type parameter has a phantom role (see Roles), the derived Functor instance will not be produced using the usual algorithm. Instead, the entire value will be coerced.

data Phantom a = Z | S (Phantom a) deriving Functor

will produce the following instance:

instance Functor Phantom where
  fmap _ = coerce

When a type has no constructors, the derived Functor instance will simply force the (bottom) value of the argument using EmptyCase.

data V a deriving Functor
type role V nominal

will produce

instance Functor V where
  fmap _ z = case z of

6.6.4.2. Deriving Foldable instances

DeriveFoldable
Implied by:DeriveTraversable
Since:7.10.1
Status:Included in GHC2024, GHC2021

Allow automatic deriving of instances for the Foldable typeclass.

With DeriveFoldable, one can derive Foldable instances for data types of kind Type -> Type. For example, this declaration:

data Example a = Ex a Char (Example a) (Example Char)
  deriving Foldable

would generate the following instance:

instance Foldable Example where
  foldr f z (Ex a1 a2 a3 a4) = f a1 (foldr f z a3)
  foldMap f (Ex a1 a2 a3 a4) = mappend (f a1) (foldMap f a3)

The algorithm for DeriveFoldable is adapted from the DeriveFunctor algorithm, but it generates definitions for foldMap, foldr, and null instead of fmap. In addition, DeriveFoldable filters out all constructor arguments on the RHS expression whose types do not mention the last type parameter, since those arguments do not need to be folded over.

When the type parameter has a phantom role (see Roles), DeriveFoldable derives a trivial instance. For example, this declaration:

data Phantom a = Z | S (Phantom a)

will generate the following instance.

instance Foldable Phantom where
  foldMap _ _ = mempty

Similarly, when the type has no constructors, DeriveFoldable will derive a trivial instance:

data V a deriving Foldable
type role V nominal

will generate the following.

instance Foldable V where
  foldMap _ _ = mempty

Here are the differences between the generated code for Functor and Foldable:

#. When a bare type variable a is encountered, DeriveFunctor would generate f a for an fmap definition. DeriveFoldable would generate f a z for foldr, f a for foldMap, and False for null.

  1. When a type that is not syntactically equivalent to a, but which does contain a, is encountered, DeriveFunctor recursively calls fmap on it. Similarly, DeriveFoldable would recursively call foldr and foldMap. Depending on the context, null may recursively call null or all null. For example, given

    data F a = F (P a)
data G a = G (P (a, Int))
data H a = H (P (Q a))

    Foldable deriving will produce

    null (F x) = null x
null (G x) = null x
null (H x) = all null x

  2. DeriveFunctor puts everything back together again at the end by invoking the constructor. DeriveFoldable, however, builds up a value of some type. For foldr, this is accomplished by chaining applications of f and recursive foldr calls on the state value z. For foldMap, this happens by combining all values with mappend. For null, the values are usually combined with &&. However, if any of the values is known to be False, all the rest will be dropped. For example,

    data SnocList a = Nil | Snoc (SnocList a) a

    will not produce

    null (Snoc xs _) = null xs && False

    (which would walk the whole list), but rather

    null (Snoc _ _) = False

There are some other differences regarding what data types can have derived Foldable instances:

  1. Data types containing function types on the right-hand side cannot have derived Foldable instances.

  2. Foldable instances can be derived for data types in which the last type parameter is existentially constrained or refined in a GADT. For example, this data type:

    data E a where
    E1 :: (a ~ Int) => a   -> E a
    E2 ::              Int -> E Int
    E3 :: (a ~ Int) => a   -> E Int
    E4 :: (a ~ Int) => Int -> E a

deriving instance Foldable E

    would have the following generated Foldable instance:

    instance Foldable E where
    foldr f z (E1 e) = f e z
    foldr f z (E2 e) = z
    foldr f z (E3 e) = z
    foldr f z (E4 e) = z

    foldMap f (E1 e) = f e
    foldMap f (E2 e) = mempty
    foldMap f (E3 e) = mempty
    foldMap f (E4 e) = mempty

    Notice how every constructor of E utilizes some sort of existential quantification, but only the argument of E1 is actually “folded over”. This is because we make a deliberate choice to only fold over universally polymorphic types that are syntactically equivalent to the last type parameter. In particular:

  • We don’t fold over the arguments of E1 or E4 because even though (a ~ Int), Int is not syntactically equivalent to a.
  • We don’t fold over the argument of E3 because a is not universally polymorphic. The a in E3 is (implicitly) existentially quantified, so it is not the same as the last type parameter of E.

6.6.4.3. Deriving Traversable instances

DeriveTraversable
Implies:DeriveFoldable, DeriveFunctor
Implied by:GHC2021
Since:7.10.1

Allow automatic deriving of instances for the Traversable typeclass.

With DeriveTraversable, one can derive Traversable instances for data types of kind Type -> Type. For example, this declaration:

data Example a = Ex a Char (Example a) (Example Char)
  deriving (Functor, Foldable, Traversable)

would generate the following Traversable instance:

instance Traversable Example where
  traverse f (Ex a1 a2 a3 a4)
    = fmap (\b1 b3 -> Ex b1 a2 b3 a4) (f a1) <*> traverse f a3

The algorithm for DeriveTraversable is adapted from the DeriveFunctor algorithm, but it generates a definition for traverse instead of fmap. In addition, DeriveTraversable filters out all constructor arguments on the RHS expression whose types do not mention the last type parameter, since those arguments do not produce any effects in a traversal.

When the type parameter has a phantom role (see Roles), DeriveTraversable coerces its argument. For example, this declaration:

data Phantom a = Z | S (Phantom a) deriving Traversable

will generate the following instance:

instance Traversable Phantom where
  traverse _ z = pure (coerce z)

When the type has no constructors, DeriveTraversable will derive the laziest instance it can.

data V a deriving Traversable
type role V nominal

will generate the following, using EmptyCase:

instance Traversable V where
  traverse _ z = pure (case z of)

Here are the differences between the generated code in each extension:

  1. When a bare type variable a is encountered, both DeriveFunctor and DeriveTraversable would generate f a for an fmap and traverse definition, respectively.
  2. When a type that is not syntactically equivalent to a, but which does contain a, is encountered, DeriveFunctor recursively calls fmap on it. Similarly, DeriveTraversable would recursively call traverse.
  3. DeriveFunctor puts everything back together again at the end by invoking the constructor. DeriveTraversable does something similar, but it works in an Applicative context by chaining everything together with (<*>).

Unlike DeriveFunctor, DeriveTraversable cannot be used on data types containing a function type on the right-hand side.

For a full specification of the algorithms used in DeriveFunctor, DeriveFoldable, and DeriveTraversable, see this wiki page.

6.6.4.4. Deriving Data instances

DeriveDataTypeable
Since:6.8.1
Status:Included in GHC2024, GHC2021

Enable automatic deriving of instances for the Data typeclass

6.6.4.5. Deriving Typeable instances

The class Typeable is very special:

  • Typeable is kind-polymorphic (see Kind polymorphism).

  • GHC has a custom solver for discharging constraints that involve class Typeable, and handwritten instances are forbidden. This ensures that the programmer cannot subvert the type system by writing bogus instances.

  • Derived instances of Typeable may be declared if the DeriveDataTypeable extension is enabled, but they are ignored, and they may be reported as an error in a later version of the compiler.

  • The rules for solving Typeable constraints are as follows:

    • A concrete type constructor applied to some types.

      instance (Typeable t1, .., Typeable t_n) =>
  Typeable (T t1 .. t_n)

      This rule works for any concrete type constructor, including type constructors with polymorphic kinds. The only restriction is that if the type constructor has a polymorphic kind, then it has to be applied to all of its kinds parameters, and these kinds need to be concrete (i.e., they cannot mention kind variables).

    • A type variable applied to some types:

      instance (Typeable f, Typeable t1, .., Typeable t_n) =>
  Typeable (f t1 .. t_n)

    • A concrete type literal.:

      instance Typeable 0       -- Type natural literals
instance Typeable "Hello" -- Type-level symbols

6.6.4.6. Deriving Lift instances

DeriveLift
Since:8.0.1
Status:Included in GHC2024, GHC2021

Enable automatic deriving of instances for the Lift typeclass for Template Haskell.

The class Lift, unlike other derivable classes, lives in template-haskell instead of base. Having a data type be an instance of Lift permits its values to be promoted to Template Haskell expressions (of type ExpQ and Code Q a), which can then be spliced into Haskell source code.

Here is an example of how one can derive Lift:

{-# LANGUAGE DeriveLift #-}
module Bar where

import Language.Haskell.TH.Syntax

data Foo a = Foo a | a :^: a deriving Lift

{-
instance (Lift a) => Lift (Foo a) where
    lift (Foo a) = [| Foo a |]
    lift ((:^:) u v) = [| (:^:) u v |]

    liftTyped (Foo a) = [|| Foo a ||]
    liftTyped ((:^:) u v) = [|| (:^:) u v ||]
-}

-----
{-# LANGUAGE TemplateHaskell #-}
module Baz where

import Bar
import Language.Haskell.TH.Lift

foo :: Foo String
foo = $(lift $ Foo "foo")

fooExp :: Lift a => Foo a -> Q Exp
fooExp f = [| f |]

Note that the Lift typeclass takes advantage of Representation polymorphism in order to support instances involving unboxed types. This means DeriveLift also works for these types:

{-# LANGUAGE DeriveLift, MagicHash #-}
module Unboxed where

import GHC.Exts
import Language.Haskell.TH.Syntax

data IntHash = IntHash Int# deriving Lift

{-
instance Lift IntHash where
    lift (IntHash i) = [| IntHash i |]
    liftTyped (IntHash i) = [|| IntHash i ||]
-}