Kind polymorphism in action

Ultrecht Haskell Compiler is an experimental Haskell compiler that supports polymorphism on the kind level. This means that in

data Eq a b = Eq (forall f. f a -> f b)

Eq is given kind

Eq :: forall a . a -> a -> *

and both Eq Integer Char and Eq [] Maybe are valid types.

Using kind polymorphism, it is possible to write sigfpe's From monoids to monads using a single type class.

To talk about monoids, you need a category (mor), multiplication (mul) and a unit.

class Monoid mor mul unit m where
  one :: mor unit m
  mult :: mor (mul m m) m

With mor being (->), mul being (,), unit being () this is a normal monoid (one :: () -> m and mult :: (m,m) -> m.). For example:

instance Monoid (->) (,) () Integer where
  one () = 1
  mult = uncurry (*)

Now, instead of functions, there will be natural transformations; instead of (,) there will be functor composition; instead of unit there will be identity functor.

data Nat f g = Nat (forall x. f x -> g x)
data Comp f g x = Comp (f (g x))
data Id x = Id x
Nat :: (* -> *) -> (* -> *) -> *
Comp :: (* -> *) -> (* -> *) -> * -> *
Id :: * -> *

And here is the list monad. Notice kinds are different than in the previous case, but it is still an instance of the same type class.

instance Monoid Nat Comp Id [] where
  one = Nat $ \(Id x) -> [x]              -- one :: Nat Id []
  mult = Nat $ \(Comp x) -> concat x      -- mult :: Nat (Comp [] []) []

So, monads are really monoids in category of endofunctors.

If you invert the arrows, you get a comonad. Here's the product comonad.

data CoNat f g = CoNat (forall x. g x -> f x)
data CoComp f g x = CoComp (g (f x))
CoNat :: (* -> *) -> (* -> *) -> *
CoComp :: (* -> *) -> (* -> *) -> * -> *

data Product w a = Product w a

instance Monoid CoNat CoComp Id (Product w) where
  one = CoNat $ \(Product a b) -> Id b
  mult = CoNat $ \(Product a b) -> CoComp $ Product a (Product a b)

Question: what are kinds of mor, mul, unit and m in the Monoid type class definition?

There's a small lie here: monads require also a liftM/fmap function. Not all Haskell types of * -> * are functors, and I used that as a poor replacement.

I didn't write monoid laws, which if translated happen to be monad laws. You're welcome to read sigfpe's original post. It's hard to write them generically since there's no access to fmap.

The code is available on hpaste and can be run in UHC.