inits is too strict

apfelmus apfelmus at quantentunnel.de
Wed Jun 13 05:48:18 EDT 2007


Hello,

  inits []     = [[]]
  inits (x:xs) = [[]] ++ map (x:) (inits xs)

as specified in Data.List has a "semantic bug", namely it's too strict:

  inits (1:_|_) = []:_|_

as opposed to the expected

  inits (1:_|_) = []:[1]:_|_

A correct version would be

  inits xs = []:case xs of
      []     -> []
      (x:xs) -> map (x:) (inits xs)

The Haskell report specifies how  inits  has to behave, so this is a
problem in the report, not in a concrete implementation. Where can I
report a bug report for the report? ;)

Regards,
apfelmus



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