Template your boilerplate: using template haskell for efficient generic programming

Abstract

Generic programming allows the concise expression of algorithms that would otherwise require large amounts of handwritten code. A number of such systems have been developed over the years, but a common drawback of these systems is poor runtime performance relative to handwritten, non-generic code. Generic-programming systems vary significantly in this regard, but few consistently match the performance of handwritten code. This poses a dilemma for developers. Generic-programming systems offer concision but cost performance. Handwritten code offers performance but costs concision.