4. Using runghc

runghc allows you to run Haskell programs using the interpreter, instead of having to compile them first.

4.1. Usage

The runghc command-line looks like:

runghc [runghc flags] [GHC flags] module [program args]

Any flags not recognized by runghc are automatically passed to GHC. If a flag is recognized by both runghc and GHC but you want to pass it to GHC then you can place it after a -- separator. Flags after the separator are treated as GHC only flags. Alternatively you can use the runghc option --ghc-arg=<arg> to pass any flag or argument directly to GHC.

module could be a Haskell source filename with or without the extension. If for some reason the filename starts with a - you can use a second -- to indicate the end of flags. Anything following a second -- will be considered a program file or module name followed by its arguments. For example:

  • runghc -- -- -hello.hs

4.2. runghc flags

runghc accepts the following flags:

  • -f /path/to/ghc: tell runghc the path of GHC executable to use to run the program. By default runghc will search for GHC in the directories in the system search path.
  • --ghc-arg=<arg>: Pass an option or argument to GHC
  • --help: print usage information.
  • --version: print version information.

4.3. GHC Flags

As discussed earlier, use -- or --ghc-arg=<arg> to disambiguate GHC flags when needed. For example, -f is recognized by runghc, therefore to pass -fliberate-case to GHC use any of the following:

  • runghc -- -fliberate-case
  • runghc --ghc-arg=-fliberate-case

Note that any non-flag arguments are never passed to GHC. An unused non-flag argument will be considered as the name of the program to run. If a GHC flag takes an argument use --ghc-arg=<arg> to pass the argument to GHC. For example, if you want to pass -package foo to GHC use any of the following:

  • runghc -package --ghc-arg=foo Main.hs
  • runghc --ghc-arg=-package --ghc-arg=foo Main.hs