These notational conventions are used for presenting syntax:
[pattern] | optional |
{pattern} | zero or more repetitions |
(pattern) | grouping |
pat1 | pat2 | choice |
pat<pat'> | difference---elements generated by pat |
except those generated by pat' | |
fibonacci | terminal syntax in typewriter font |
BNF-like syntax is used throughout, with productions having the form:
nonterm | -> | alt1 | alt2 | ... | altn |
There are some families of nonterminals indexed by precedence levels (written as a superscript). Similarly, the nonterminals op, varop, and conop may have a double index: a letter l, r, or n for left-, right- or nonassociativity and a precedence level. A precedence-level variable i ranges from 0 to 9; an associativity variable a varies over {l, r, n}. Thus, for example
aexp | -> | ( expi+1 qop(a,i) ) |
In both the lexical and the context-free syntax, there are some ambiguities that are to be resolved by making grammatical phrases as long as possible, proceeding from left to right (in shift-reduce parsing, resolving shift/reduce conflicts by shifting). In the lexical syntax, this is the "maximal munch" rule. In the context-free syntax, this means that conditionals, let-expressions, and lambda abstractions extend to the right as far as possible.
program | -> | {lexeme | whitespace } |
lexeme | -> | qvarid | qconid | qvarsym | qconsym |
| | literal | special | reservedop | reservedid | |
literal | -> | integer | float | char | string |
special | -> | ( | ) | , | ; | [ | ] | `| { | } |
whitespace | -> | whitestuff {whitestuff} |
whitestuff | -> | whitechar | comment | ncomment |
whitechar | -> | newline | vertab | space | tab | uniWhite |
newline | -> | return linefeed | return | linefeed | formfeed |
return | -> | a carriage return |
linefeed | -> | a line feed |
vertab | -> | a vertical tab |
formfeed | -> | a form feed |
space | -> | a space |
tab | -> | a horizontal tab |
uniWhite | -> | any Unicode character defined as whitespace |
comment | -> | dashes [ any<symbol> {any}] newline |
dashes | -> | -- {-} |
opencom | -> | {- |
closecom | -> | -} |
ncomment | -> | opencom ANYseq {ncomment ANYseq}closecom |
ANYseq | -> | {ANY}<{ANY}( opencom | closecom ) {ANY}> |
ANY | -> | grahic | whitechar |
any | -> | graphic | space | tab |
graphic | -> | small | large | symbol | digit | special | : | " | ' |
small | -> | ascSmall | uniSmall | _ |
ascSmall | -> | a | b | ... | z |
uniSmall | -> | any Unicode lowercase letter |
large | -> | ascLarge | uniLarge |
ascLarge | -> | A | B | ... | Z |
uniLarge | -> | any uppercase or titlecase Unicode letter |
symbol | -> | ascSymbol | uniSymbol< special | _ | : | " | ' > |
ascSymbol | -> | ! | # | $ | % | & | * | + | . | / | < | = | > | ? | @ |
| | \ | ^ | | | - | ~ | |
uniSymbol | -> | any Unicode symbol or punctuation |
digit | -> | ascDigit | uniDigit |
ascDigit | -> | 0 | 1 | ... | 9 |
uniDigit | -> | any Unicode decimal digit |
octit | -> | 0 | 1 | ... | 7 |
hexit | -> | digit | A | ... | F | a | ... | f |
varid | -> | (small {small | large | digit | ' })<reservedid> | |
conid | -> | large {small | large | digit | ' } | |
reservedid | -> | case | class | data | default | deriving | do | else | |
| | if | import | in | infix | infixl | infixr | instance | ||
| | let | module | newtype | of | then | type | where | _ | ||
varsym | -> | ( symbol {symbol | :})<reservedop | dashes> | |
consym | -> | (: {symbol | :})<reservedop> | |
reservedop | -> | .. | : | :: | = | \ | | | <- | -> | @ | ~ | => | |
varid | (variables) | ||
conid | (constructors) | ||
tyvar | -> | varid | (type variables) |
tycon | -> | conid | (type constructors) |
tycls | -> | conid | (type classes) |
modid | -> | conid | (modules) |
qvarid | -> | [ modid . ] varid | |
qconid | -> | [ modid . ] conid | |
qtycon | -> | [ modid . ] tycon | |
qtycls | -> | [ modid . ] tycls | |
qvarsym | -> | [ modid . ] varsym | |
qconsym | -> | [ modid . ] consym | |
decimal | -> | digit{digit} | |
octal | -> | octit{octit} | |
hexadecimal | -> | hexit{hexit} | |
integer | -> | decimal | |
| | 0o octal | 0O octal | ||
| | 0x hexadecimal | 0X hexadecimal | ||
float | -> | decimal . decimal [exponent] | |
| | decimal exponent | ||
exponent | -> | (e | E) [+ | -] decimal | |
char | -> | ' (graphic<' | \> | space | escape<\&>) ' | |
string | -> | " {graphic<" | \> | space | escape | gap}" | |
escape | -> | \ ( charesc | ascii | decimal | o octal | x hexadecimal ) | |
charesc | -> | a | b | f | n | r | t | v | \ | " | ' | & | |
ascii | -> | ^cntrl | NUL | SOH | STX | ETX | EOT | ENQ | ACK | |
| | BEL | BS | HT | LF | VT | FF | CR | SO | SI | DLE | ||
| | DC1 | DC2 | DC3 | DC4 | NAK | SYN | ETB | CAN | ||
| | EM | SUB | ESC | FS | GS | RS | US | SP | DEL | ||
cntrl | -> | ascLarge | @ | [ | \ | ] | ^ | _ | |
gap | -> | \ whitechar {whitechar}\ |
Section 2.7 gives an informal discussion of the layout rule. This section defines it more precisely.
The meaning of a Haskell program may depend on its layout. The effect of layout on its meaning can be completely described by adding braces and semicolons in places determined by the layout. The meaning of this augmented program is now layout insensitive.
The effect of layout is specified in this section by describing how to add braces and semicolons to a laid-out program. The specification takes the form of a function L that performs the translation. The input to L is:
The "indentation" of a lexeme is the column number of the first character of that lexeme; the indentation of a line is the indentation of its leftmost lexeme. To determine the column number, assume a fixed-width font with the following conventions:
The application
L tokens []
delivers a layout-insensitive translation of tokens, where tokens is the result of lexically analysing a module and adding column-number indicators to it as described above. The definition of L is as follows, where we use ":" as a stream construction operator, and "[]" for the empty stream.
L (<n>:ts) (m:ms) | = | ; : (L ts (m:ms)) | if m = n |
= | } : (L (<n>:ts) ms) | if n < m | |
L (<n>:ts) ms | = | L ts ms | |
L ({n}:ts) (m:ms) | = | { : (L ts (n:m:ms)) | if n > m (Note 1) |
L ({n}:ts) [] | = | { : (L ts [n]) | if n > 0 (Note 1) |
L ({n}:ts) ms | = | { : } : (L (<n>:ts) ms) | (Note 2) |
L (}:ts) (0:ms) | = | } : (L ts ms) | (Note 3) |
L (}:ts) ms | = | parse-error | (Note 3) |
L ({:ts) ms | = | { : (L ts (0:ms)) | (Note 4) |
L (t:ts) (m:ms) | = | } : (L (t:ts) ms) | if m /= 0 and parse-error(t) |
(Note 5) | |||
L (t:ts) ms | = | t : (L ts ms) | |
L [] [] | = | [] | |
L [] (m:ms) | = | } : L [] ms | if m /=0 (Note 6) |
The test m /= 0 checks that an implicitly-added closing brace would match an implicit open brace.
If none of the rules given above matches, then the algorithm fails. It can fail for instance when the end of the input is reached, and a non-layout context is active, since the close brace is missing. Some error conditions are not detected by the algorithm, although they could be: for example let }.
Note 1 implements the feature that layout processing can be stopped
prematurely by a parse error. For example
let x = e; y = x in e'
is valid, because it translates to
let { x = e; y = x } in e'
The close brace is inserted due to the parse error rule above.
The parse-error rule is hard to implement in its full generality, because
doing so involves fixities. For example, the expression
do a == b == c
has a single unambiguous (albeit probably type-incorrect) parse, namely
(do { a == b }) == c
because (==) is non-associative. Programmers are therefore advised to avoid
writing code that requires the parser to insert a closing brace in such
situations.
The "literate comment" convention, first developed by Richard Bird and Philip Wadler for Orwell, and inspired in turn by Donald Knuth's "literate programming", is an alternative style for encoding Haskell source code. The literate style encourages comments by making them the default. A line in which ">" is the first character is treated as part of the program; all other lines are comment.
The program text is recovered by taking only those lines beginning with ">", and replacing the leading ">" with a space. Layout and comments apply exactly as described in Appendix B in the resulting text.
To capture some cases where one omits an ">" by mistake, it is an error for a program line to appear adjacent to a non-blank comment line, where a line is taken as blank if it consists only of whitespace.
By convention, the style of comment is indicated by the file
extension, with ".hs" indicating a usual Haskell file and
".lhs" indicating a literate Haskell file. Using this style, a
simple factorial program would be:
This literate program prompts the user for a number
and prints the factorial of that number:
> main :: IO ()
> main = do putStr "Enter a number: "
> l <- readLine
> putStr "n!= "
> print (fact (read l))
This is the factorial function.
> fact :: Integer -> Integer
> fact 0 = 1
> fact n = n * fact (n-1)
An alternative style of literate programming is particularly suitable for use with the LaTeX text processing system. In this convention, only those parts of the literate program that are entirely enclosed between \begin{code}...\end{code} delimiters are treated as program text; all other lines are comment. More precisely:
module | -> | module modid [exports] where body | |
| | body | ||
body | -> | { impdecls ; topdecls } | |
| | { impdecls } | ||
| | { topdecls } | ||
impdecls | -> | impdecl1 ; ... ; impdecln | (n>=1) |
exports | -> | ( export1 , ... , exportn [ , ] ) | (n>=0) |
export | -> | qvar | |
| | qtycon [(..) | ( cname1 , ... , cnamen )] | (n>=0) | |
| | qtycls [(..) | ( qvar1 , ... , qvarn )] | (n>=0) | |
| | module modid |
impdecl | -> | import [qualified] modid [as modid] [impspec] | |
| | (empty declaration) | ||
impspec | -> | ( import1 , ... , importn [ , ] ) | (n>=0) |
| | hiding ( import1 , ... , importn [ , ] ) | (n>=0) | |
import | -> | var | |
| | tycon [ (..) | ( cname1 , ... , cnamen )] | (n>=0) | |
| | tycls [(..) | ( var1 , ... , varn )] | (n>=0) | |
cname | -> | var | con |
topdecls | -> | topdecl1 ; ... ; topdecln | (n>=0) |
topdecl | -> | type simpletype = type | |
| | data [context =>] simpletype = constrs [deriving] | ||
| | newtype [context =>] simpletype = newconstr [deriving] | ||
| | class [scontext =>] tycls tyvar [where cdecls] | ||
| | instance [scontext =>] qtycls inst [where idecls] | ||
| | default (type1 , ... , typen) | (n>=0) | |
| | decl |
decls | -> | { decl1 ; ... ; decln } | (n>=0) |
decl | -> | gendecl | |
| | (funlhs | pat0) rhs | ||
cdecls | -> | { cdecl1 ; ... ; cdecln } | (n>=0) |
cdecl | -> | gendecl | |
| | (funlhs | var) rhs | ||
idecls | -> | { idecl1 ; ... ; idecln } | (n>=0) |
idecl | -> | (funlhs | var) rhs | |
| | (empty) | ||
gendecl | -> | vars :: [context =>] type | (type signature) |
| | fixity [integer] ops | (fixity declaration) | |
| | (empty declaration) | ||
ops | -> | op1 , ... , opn | (n>=1) |
vars | -> | var1 , ..., varn | (n>=1) |
fixity | -> | infixl | infixr | infix |
type | -> | btype [-> type] | (function type) |
btype | -> | [btype] atype | (type application) |
atype | -> | gtycon | |
| | tyvar | ||
| | ( type1 , ... , typek ) | (tuple type, k>=2) | |
| | [ type ] | (list type) | |
| | ( type ) | (parenthesized constructor) | |
gtycon | -> | qtycon | |
| | () | (unit type) | |
| | [] | (list constructor) | |
| | (->) | (function constructor) | |
| | (,{,}) | (tupling constructors) | |
context | -> | class | |
| | ( class1 , ... , classn ) | (n>=0) | |
class | -> | qtycls tyvar | |
| | qtycls ( tyvar atype1 ... atypen ) | (n>=1) | |
scontext | -> | simpleclass | |
| | ( simpleclass1 , ... , simpleclassn ) | (n>=0) | |
simpleclass | -> | qtycls tyvar |
simpletype | -> | tycon tyvar1 ... tyvark | (k>=0) |
constrs | -> | constr1 | ... | constrn | (n>=1) |
constr | -> | con [!] atype1 ... [!] atypek | (arity con = k, k>=0) |
| | (btype | ! atype) conop (btype | ! atype) | (infix conop) | |
| | con { fielddecl1 , ... , fielddecln } | (n>=0) | |
newconstr | -> | con atype | |
| | con { var :: type } | ||
fielddecl | -> | vars :: (type | ! atype) | |
deriving | -> | deriving (dclass | (dclass1, ... , dclassn)) | (n>=0) |
dclass | -> | qtycls |
inst | -> | gtycon | |
| | ( gtycon tyvar1 ... tyvark ) | (k>=0, tyvars distinct) | |
| | ( tyvar1 , ... , tyvark ) | (k>=2, tyvars distinct) | |
| | [ tyvar ] | ||
| | ( tyvar1 -> tyvar2 ) | tyvar1 and tyvar2 distinct |
funlhs | -> | var apat {apat } |
| | pati+1 varop(a,i) pati+1 | |
| | lpati varop(l,i) pati+1 | |
| | pati+1 varop(r,i) rpati | |
| | ( funlhs ) apat {apat } | |
rhs | -> | = exp [where decls] |
| | gdrhs [where decls] | |
gdrhs | -> | gd = exp [gdrhs] |
gd | -> | | exp0 |
exp | -> | exp0 :: [context =>] type | (expression type signature) |
| | exp0 | ||
expi | -> | expi+1 [qop(n,i) expi+1] | |
| | lexpi | ||
| | rexpi | ||
lexpi | -> | (lexpi | expi+1) qop(l,i) expi+1 | |
lexp6 | -> | - exp7 | |
rexpi | -> | expi+1 qop(r,i) (rexpi | expi+1) | |
exp10 | -> | \ apat1 ... apatn -> exp | (lambda abstraction, n>=1) |
| | let decls in exp | (let expression) | |
| | if exp then exp else exp | (conditional) | |
| | case exp of { alts } | (case expression) | |
| | do { stmts } | (do expression) | |
| | fexp | ||
fexp | -> | [fexp] aexp | (function application) |
aexp | -> | qvar | (variable) |
| | gcon | (general constructor) | |
| | literal | ||
| | ( exp ) | (parenthesized expression) | |
| | ( exp1 , ... , expk ) | (tuple, k>=2) | |
| | [ exp1 , ... , expk ] | (list, k>=1) | |
| | [ exp1 [, exp2] .. [exp3] ] | (arithmetic sequence) | |
| | [ exp | qual1 , ... , qualn ] | (list comprehension, n>=1) | |
| | ( expi+1 qop(a,i) ) | (left section) | |
| | ( lexpi qop(l,i) ) | (left section) | |
| | ( qop(a,i)<-> expi+1 ) | (right section) | |
| | ( qop(r,i)<-> rexpi ) | (right section) | |
| | qcon { fbind1 , ... , fbindn } | (labeled construction, n>=0) | |
| | aexp<qcon> { fbind1 , ... , fbindn } | (labeled update, n >= 1) |
qual | -> | pat <- exp | (generator) |
| | let decls | (local declaration) | |
| | exp | (guard) | |
alts | -> | alt1 ; ... ; altn | (n>=0) |
alt | -> | pat -> exp [where decls] | |
| | pat gdpat [where decls] | ||
| | (empty alternative) | ||
gdpat | -> | gd -> exp [ gdpat ] | |
stmts | -> | stmt1 ... stmtn exp [;] | (n>=0) |
stmt | -> | exp ; | |
| | pat <- exp ; | ||
| | let decls ; | ||
| | ; | (empty statement) | |
fbind | -> | qvar = exp | |
pat | -> | var + integer | (successor pattern) |
| | pat0 | ||
pati | -> | pati+1 [qconop(n,i) pati+1] | |
| | lpati | ||
| | rpati | ||
lpati | -> | (lpati | pati+1) qconop(l,i) pati+1 | |
lpat6 | -> | - (integer | float) | (negative literal) |
rpati | -> | pati+1 qconop(r,i) (rpati | pati+1) | |
pat10 | -> | apat | |
| | gcon apat1 ... apatk | (arity gcon = k, k>=1) |
apat | -> | var [@ apat] | (as pattern) |
| | gcon | (arity gcon = 0) | |
| | qcon { fpat1 , ... , fpatk } | (labeled pattern, k>=0) | |
| | literal | ||
| | _ | (wildcard) | |
| | ( pat ) | (parenthesized pattern) | |
| | ( pat1 , ... , patk ) | (tuple pattern, k>=2) | |
| | [ pat1 , ... , patk ] | (list pattern, k>=1) | |
| | ~ apat | (irrefutable pattern) | |
fpat | -> | qvar = pat |
gcon | -> | () | |
| | [] | ||
| | (,{,}) | ||
| | qcon | ||
var | -> | varid | ( varsym ) | (variable) |
qvar | -> | qvarid | ( qvarsym ) | (qualified variable) |
con | -> | conid | ( consym ) | (constructor) |
qcon | -> | qconid | ( gconsym ) | (qualified constructor) |
varop | -> | varsym | `varid ` | (variable operator) |
qvarop | -> | qvarsym | `qvarid ` | (qualified variable operator) |
conop | -> | consym | `conid ` | (constructor operator) |
qconop | -> | gconsym | `qconid ` | (qualified constructor operator) |
op | -> | varop | conop | (operator) |
qop | -> | qvarop | qconop | (qualified operator) |
gconsym | -> | : | qconsym |