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Tilia introduces new formatting solutions for Haskell comments and operator chains
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Tilia aims to resolve longstanding formatting challenges in Haskell, particularly with comment handling and operator fixities. This could significantly improve developer experience by providing a more reliable and accurate formatting tool. The integration with GHC and Cabal also suggests a more seamless process for users dealing with Haskell dependencies.
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Tilia is designed to handle comments and operator fixities, which have been difficult to manage in Haskell formatting.
The formatter can work with both installed dependencies and source tarballs to retrieve necessary information.
It operates closely with Cabal to ensure accurate build plans and dependencies are managed effectively.
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Tilia is a new formatter for Haskell that addresses the challenges of formatting comments and inferring operator fixities. By leveraging GHC's real parser through ghc-lib-parser, Tilia provides a solution that has been notably absent in Haskell's ecosystem. This new tool can streamline the process of formatting code, making it more efficient for developers.
One of the core innovations of Tilia is its ability to accurately determine operator fixities from Haskell dependencies. This is achieved by either reading interface files from already installed libraries or analyzing source tarballs for those that are not yet installed. This dual approach allows Tilia to be versatile in various development environments.
The formatter's reliance on Cabal for managing build plans and downloading source tarballs represents both an innovative integration and a potential point of complexity. While it enhances Tilia's capabilities by ensuring it has access to necessary information, it also adds a layer of dependency that users must manage. However, the time cost for these operations is minimal, making it a worthwhile trade-off.
Despite the solutions Tilia offers, it may struggle in complex projects with extensive re-exports or unconventional module structures. The need for absolute correctness means that Tilia has to navigate intricate dependencies and potential ambiguities, which could complicate its operation. Developers should be aware of these limitations when integrating the formatter into their workflows.
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