Haskell: Show screwed up?

Question

The show function in Haskell doesn\'t seem to do what it should:

Prelude> let str = \"stack\\n\\noverflow\"
Prelude> putStrLn str
stack


overfl         


        

Answer 1

The contract of the show method in Haskell is that it produce a string that, when evaluated, yields the value that was shown.

Prelude> let str = "stack\n\noverflow"
Prelude> putStrLn str
stack

overflow
Prelude> putStrLn (show str)
"stack\n\noverflow"
Prelude>