Parser groups "::" and "*" together in kind signature (a::*)

Compare a session in 7.10

GHCi, version 7.10.2: http://www.haskell.org/ghc/  :? for help
Prelude> data A (a :: *) = B

<interactive>:2:14:
    Illegal kind signature: ‘*’
      Perhaps you intended to use KindSignatures
    In the data type declaration for ‘A’
Prelude> data A (a::*) = B

<interactive>:3:13: parse error on input ‘)’

to a session in 8.1

GHCi, version 8.1.20160105: http://www.haskell.org/ghc/  :? for help
Prelude> data A (a :: *) = B

<interactive>:1:14: error:
    Illegal kind signature: ‘*’
      Perhaps you intended to use KindSignatures
    In the data type declaration for ‘A’
Prelude> data A (a::*) = B

<interactive>:2:9: error:
    Unexpected type ‘a ::*’
    In the data declaration for ‘A’
    A data declaration should have form
      data A a = ...

GHC seems to group "::" and "*" together. Same with (★) from Data.Kind with TypeInType enabled.

Trac metadata

Trac field	Value
Version	8.1
Type	Bug
TypeOfFailure	OtherFailure
Priority	lowest
Resolution	Unresolved
Component	Compiler (Parser)
Test case
Differential revisions
BlockedBy
Related
Blocking
CC
Operating system
Architecture

changed weight to 0

added Tbug Trac import parser labels

That seems sensible, since ::* is a valid operator name.

Prelude> :set -XTypeOperators
Prelude> data a ::* b
Prelude>

Replying to [ticket:11363#comment:112864 rwbarton]:

That seems sensible, since ::* is a valid operator name.

Would the operator ever appear in that position (as a type/kind signature)?

Why does it matter? If + is a type operator and ::* is a type operator and data A (a +) is a parse error then data A (a ::*) should be a parse error. Anything else seems terribly confusing!

closed

Closing in concurrence with rwbarton. Reopen if you disagree.

Trac metadata

Trac field	Value
Resolution	Unresolved → ResolvedInvalid

added Plow label