Editing Nitpicks (section)

== Base-related nitpicks ==

* Re-naming <hask>fmap</hask> to <hask>map</hask>. This has been discussed at length; see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6824255/whats-the-point-of-map-in-haskell-when-there-is-fmap/6824333 and https://mail.haskell.org/pipermail/haskell-prime/2006-August/thread.html
* Cutting up <hask>Num</hask>, which is a mess of various operations one may not want to all define on some type; for example <hask>(+)</hask> makes sense for vectors in ℝ³ but <hask>(*)</hask> doesn't.  Also, <hask>fromIntegral</hask> is useful for some types where the full complement of numeric operators aren't.
:* ...or just drop type classes altogether and use e.g. System CT [https://homepages.dcc.ufmg.br/~camarao/CT/ :]  for top-level definitions by default and use annotations elsewhere, like polymorphic let-expressions [https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.187.9508 :]. An account of a more modest implementation is also available (see chapter 7)[http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.628.7053 :].
* <hask>Data.List.nub</hask> and other "Set" operations should be restricted to <hask>Ord</hask> not <hask>Eq</hask> in order to reduce their complexity. It is very unlikely for anyone to create a datatype that can support <hask>Eq</hask> but not <hask>Ord</hask>. <hask>Data.Set</hask> in the "container" package assumes <hask>Ord</hask> as well.
* Partial functions like <hask>head</hask> and <hask>tail</hask> in Prelude. The problem is in their partiality.
* The proliferation of questions, guides, tutorials, lessons, introductions '''et al''' about the topic indicates that I/O being both ''abstract'' and ''monadic'' is at best pedagogically dubious. Instead, I/O should be defined more directly in standard Haskell:
<haskell>
     -- this is merely a suggestion...
     --
    type IO# a = (a -> IOCall#) -> IOCall#
    data IOCall# -- abstract
</haskell>
:which allows beginners to acquire a better understanding of how I/O works - the monadic abstraction can then be taught later in an intermediate or advanced course.