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HC7-7 Haskell Chapter 7 Practical Tasks: Intro‐to‐Type‐Classes |
This topic introduces type classes in Haskell from the perspective of a developer who wants to understand and use them. It begins by highlighting the awesomeness of type classes, showcasing their power in enabling polymorphism and code reuse. The core question—What are type classes?—is explored, explaining how they define behavior that different types can implement. Several common type classes are covered, including Eq (equality comparison), Ord (ordering), Num, Integral, and Floating (numeric operations), and Read and Show (conversion between strings and values). The discussion extends to determining the most general valid type for a function and handling multiple constraints when a function requires more than one type class. This serves as a foundational guide for using type classes effectively, while a future lesson will explore how to create new type classes and instances. |
