Comparing approaches to generic programming in Haskell

Abstract

The last decade has seen a number of approaches to generic programming: PolyP, Functorial ML, `Scrap Your Boilerplate', Generic Haskell, `Generics for the Masses', etc. The approaches vary in sophistication and target audience: some propose full-blown pro- gramming languages, some suggest libraries, some can be seen as categorical programming methods. In these lecture notes, we shall compare the various approaches: we will intro- duce each method by means of example, and we will evaluate it along different dimensions (expressivity, ease of use, etc).