On Sat, 29 Jan 2005, Remi Vanicat wrote:
> On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 14:15:43 +0200, Radu Grigore <radugrigore@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Why are cyclic types forbidden?
> >
> > I was forced to use the definition:
> >   type forest = Forest of forest StringMap.t | Empty
> > where I would have rather used
> >   type forest = forest StringMap.t
> > The error is:
> >   The type abbreviation tree is cyclic
>
> You can use the -rectypes of the ocaml compiler or toplevel to allow
> cyclic type.

This comes up relatively frequently, and it is known that having -rectypes
as the default is not a good idea. However, wouldn't explicit typing of
this case sidestep the known problems and eliminate the need for a
-rectypes option here?

-- Brian