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[Caml-list] My wishlist: DRY modules
- Brian Hurt
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| Date: | -- (:) |
| From: | Brian Hurt <bhurt@s...> |
| Subject: | [Caml-list] My wishlist: DRY modules |
I'm doing some work with modules, and I'm learning some of their
annoyances. Number one is having to repeat module type definitions. For
example, say you have a file foo. In foo.mli, you have:
module type T = sig
type s
val needed : ...
end
module type S = sig
type t
val doit : ...
val orelse : ...
end
module Make(Arg: T) : S with type t = Arg.s
So far, so good, but now in foo.ml you need to replicate the definitions
of *both* T and S:
module type T = sig
type s
val needed : ...
end
module type S = sig
type t
val doit : ...
val orelse : ...
end
module Make(Arg: T) = struct
type t = Arg.s
let doit = ...
let orelse = ...
end
Now, if you know your module signatures when you start, this isn't that
big of a problem- it's a cut and paste. Unfortunately, if you don't know
your module signatures at the begining, to add or subtract or change a
type or val you need to update the signature in *three* different places.
I wish you didn't have to repeat the module definitions in the module
file *if* you have a .mli file.
The subject line, BTW, comes from the Pragmatic Programmer book's DRY
principle- Don't Repeat Yourself.
--
"Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea -- massive,
difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of
mind-boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it."
- Gene Spafford
Brian
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