HLint Unused Extension Hints

Summary: HLint detects unused extensions in LANGUAGE pragmas, including over 17,000 on Hackage.

HLint has detected unused LANGUAGE pragmas for a while - where you enable an extension (e.g. {-# LANGUAGE EmptyDataDecls #-}) but don't use it. HLint v2.1.13 includes some improvements from Yair and myself making these hints even more powerful. As a result, I thought it worth showing some examples of what HLint can do in this area. I started by running HLint on all of Hackage, which found 17,718 "Unused LANGUAGE pragma" hints, including the examples in this post.

Detecting unused extensions

For extensions that show up as syntax (e.g. EmptyDataDecls, ViewPatterns etc), HLint has rules saying which constructs require which extensions. For extensions that aren't syntax directed (e.g. AllowAmbiguousTypes or IncoherentInstances), HLint can't detect whether they are used or not. In all, HLint has rules for detecting 36 different unused extensions. Taking a look at some examples from Hackage:

abcBridge-0.15\src\Data\ABC\AIG.hs:18:1: Warning: Unused LANGUAGE pragma
Found:
  {-# LANGUAGE EmptyDataDecls #-}
Perhaps you should remove it.

mallard-0.6.1.1\lib\Database\Mallard\Validation.hs:4:1: Warning: Unused LANGUAGE pragma
Found:
  {-# LANGUAGE TemplateHaskell #-}
Perhaps you should remove it.

scholdoc-texmath-0.1.0.1\src\Text\TeXMath\Writers\TeX.hs:1:1: Warning: Unused LANGUAGE pragma
Found:
  {-# LANGUAGE GeneralizedNewtypeDeriving, ViewPatterns, GADTs #-}
Perhaps:
  {-# LANGUAGE GeneralizedNewtypeDeriving, GADTs #-}

As we can see, HLint can spot entirely redundant extension declarations, and also prune those that are partly redundant.

Duplicate extensions

Sometimes extension are simply duplicated, and HLint detects these, either between two separate pragmas, or within a single pragma.

ghcjs-base-stub-0.2.0.0\src\GHCJS\Marshal\Pure.hs:3:1: Warning: Use fewer LANGUAGE pragmas
Found:
  {-# LANGUAGE DefaultSignatures #-}
  {-# LANGUAGE DefaultSignatures #-}
Perhaps:
  {-# LANGUAGE DefaultSignatures #-}

abstract-deque-tests-0.3\Data\Concurrent\Deque\Tests.hs:1:1: Warning: Use fewer LANGUAGE pragmas
Found:
  {-# LANGUAGE BangPatterns, RankNTypes, CPP, BangPatterns #-}
Perhaps:
  {-# LANGUAGE BangPatterns, RankNTypes, CPP #-}

Implied extensions

The new feature for v2.1.13 is that extension are detected as redundant if they are implied by other extensions. For example, if you have PolyKinds defined then that implies KindSignatures. HLint now features a list of such implications, which it uses to detect redundant extensions.

AERN-RnToRm-0.5.0.1\src\Data\Number\ER\RnToRm\UnitDom\Base.hs:1:1: Warning: Unused LANGUAGE pragma
Found:
  {-# LANGUAGE MultiParamTypeClasses #-}
Perhaps you should remove it.
Note: Extension MultiParamTypeClasses is implied by FunctionalDependencies

attoparsec-0.13.2.2\Data\Attoparsec\ByteString\Char8.hs:1:1: Warning: Unused LANGUAGE pragma
Found:
  {-# LANGUAGE BangPatterns, CPP, FlexibleInstances, TypeFamilies,
    TypeSynonymInstances, GADTs #-}
Perhaps:
  {-# LANGUAGE BangPatterns, CPP, FlexibleInstances, TypeFamilies,
    GADTs #-}
Note: Extension TypeSynonymInstances is implied by FlexibleInstances

Redundant extensions that imply non-redundant extensions

Sometimes there is an extension that you can tell is unused (e.g. RecordWildCards), which implies an extension that is either being used or can't be detected (e.g. DisambiguateRecordFields). In such cases HLint gives a note that the implied extension might now need to be provided explicitly, although usually it won't be necessary. As examples:

gogol-maps-engine-0.3.0\gen\Network\Google\Resource\MapsEngine\Projects\List.hs:7:1: Warning: Unused LANGUAGE pragma
Found:
  {-# LANGUAGE RecordWildCards #-}
Perhaps you should remove it.
Note: may require `{-# LANGUAGE DisambiguateRecordFields #-}` adding to the top of the file

manifolds-0.5.0.1\Data\Function\Affine.hs:14:1: Warning: Unused LANGUAGE pragma
Found:
  {-# LANGUAGE FunctionalDependencies #-}
Perhaps you should remove it.
Note: may require `{-# LANGUAGE MultiParamTypeClasses #-}` adding to the top of the file

Being wrong

Finally, sometimes HLint gets it a bit wrong. As an example:

shake-0.17.1\src\Development\Shake\Internal\FileInfo.hs:1:1: Warning: Unused LANGUAGE pragma
Found:
  {-# LANGUAGE GeneralizedNewtypeDeriving, DeriveDataTypeable, CPP,
    ForeignFunctionInterface #-}
Perhaps:
  {-# LANGUAGE GeneralizedNewtypeDeriving, DeriveDataTypeable, CPP
    #-}

Here HLint has detected that ForeignFunctionInterface is not used, but in fact it is, although only under one branch of an #ifdef. To fix the hint we can put the extension itself under CPP, adjust the CPP definitions given to HLint, or ignore the hint.