It's too bad that indexes are `Int` instead of `Word` under
the hood. Why is `Int` used in so many places where it is
semantically wrong? Not just here but also in list indexing...
Indices/offsets can only be positive and I can't see any good
reason to waste half the address space -- yet we encounter
this problem over and over again.
Readers who disliked the above also disliked the following:
"index out of range" error message regression
http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/2669
Int / Word / IntN / WordN are unequally optimized
http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/3055
Arrays allow out-of-bounds indexes
http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/2120
..
Not to mention that many serious array programmers use their
own array libraries (yes, plural:-(, bypassing the "standard", so
their valuable experience/expertise doesn't result in improvements
in the standard array libraries (nor have they agreed on a new API).
If any of this is affecting your use of GHC or libraries, you might
want to add yourself to relevant tickets, or add new tickets. Small
bug fixes, alternative designs and grand array library reunification
initiatives might also be welcome.
Claus
PS. You could, of course, rebase your array indices to make
use of the negatives, so the address space isn't wasted, just
made difficult to use.
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