kini/ghc-server

A server interface to GHC.

ghc-server

A server interface to GHC. Work in progress. No official release yet.

Purpose

Generally it should replace use of GHC, GHCi, hlint, hdevtools, ghc-mod in one big program that you can communicate with via a simple s-expression/JSON-based protocol.

Supported

• Asynchonrous s-expression-based communication layer.
• Compilation.
• Type checking.
• Loading modules.
• REPL evaluation.
• Type info.
• Kind info.
• Connecting to a remote instance.
• Setting compile flags.
• Setting package-conf flag.

Planned / might do

• Sub-expression type info.
• Go to definition.
• Autocompletion.
• Additional JSON-based communication layer.
• Test suite against all supported GHC versions.
• Show generated Core for a module / function.
• Show generated CMM for a module / function.
• Show generated assembly for a module / function.
• Hlint checking.
• Hoogle generation.
• Jump to documentation.
• Structured-haskell-mode parser.
• Haskell-names-based scope resolution.
• Capture stderr and stdout separately to evaluation.
• Figure out compile flags from Cabal file.
• Support presentations (via present package).
• Programmatic access to scope, type info, instances, etc.
• Managed handling of Cabal configuration.
• Make better debugging available.
• Watch statements/variables.
• Automatic import management.
• Whatever I feel like doing.

Major GHC releases supported

I test compilation against the following GHC versions.

• GHC 7.8
• GHC 7.6
• GHC 7.4
• GHC 7.2

This is achieved via a wrapper module called GHC.Compat which wraps any function or type that has changed between GHC versions.

What about GHCi, Scion, hdevtools, ghc-mod, FP Haskell Center, etc.?

There are many approaches to this problem. Consider this a vanity project on par with Frank Sinatra's I did it My Way…. As an Emacs user I'm very particular about my development environment. I change it from day to day as I please, sometimes with bad ideas, sometimes with good ideas. Here I have the freedom to make the Haskell setup that I want. I will treat the GHC library like XMonad's library, and make a program out of it.

As always, when taking inspiration for a development environment, one should always look at the Lisp world. Here, SLIME is my inspiration. The SBCL compiler exposes a wealth of information to the user. More than anyone could ever want. SBCL makes sense of that information and gives the user as much as is asked for.