Documentation

rnf should reduce its argument to normal form (that is, fully evaluate all sub-components), and then return '()'.

Generic NFData deriving

Starting with GHC 7.2, you can automatically derive instances for types possessing a Generic instance.

{-# LANGUAGE DeriveGeneric #-}

import GHC.Generics (Generic)
import Control.DeepSeq

data Foo a = Foo a String
             deriving (Eq, Generic)

instance NFData a => NFData (Foo a)

data Colour = Red | Green | Blue
              deriving Generic

instance NFData Colour

Starting with GHC 7.10, the example above can be written more concisely by enabling the new DeriveAnyClass extension:

{-# LANGUAGE DeriveGeneric, DeriveAnyClass #-}

import GHC.Generics (Generic)
import Control.DeepSeq

data Foo a = Foo a String
             deriving (Eq, Generic, NFData)

data Colour = Red | Green | Blue
              deriving (Generic, NFData)

Compatibility with previous deepseq versions

Prior to version 1.4.0.0, the default implementation of the rnf method was defined as

rnf a = seq a ()

However, starting with deepseq-1.4.0.0, the default implementation is based on DefaultSignatures allowing for more accurate auto-derived NFData instances. If you need the previously used exact default rnf method implementation semantics, use

instance NFData Colour where rnf x = seq x ()

or alternatively

{-# LANGUAGE BangPatterns #-}
instance NFData Colour where rnf !_ = ()