Deriving a Relationship from a Single Example

Given an appropriate domain specific language (DSL), it is possible to describe the relationship between Haskell data types and many generic functions, typically type-class instances. While describing the relationship is possible, it is not always an easy task. There is an alternative – simply give one example output for a carefully chosen input, and have the relationship derived. When deriving a relationship from only one example, it is important that the derived relationship is the intended one. We identify general restrictions on the DSL, and on the provided example, to ensure a level of predictability. We then apply these restrictions in practice, to derive the relationship between Haskell data types and generic functions. We have used our scheme in the DERIVE tool, where over 60% of type classes are derived from a single example.