diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+Copyright (c) 2013, Carter Tazio Schonwald
+
+All rights reserved.
+
+Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
+
+    * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+      notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+
+    * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
+      copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
+      disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
+      with the distribution.
+
+    * Neither the name of Carter Tazio Schonwald nor the names of other
+      contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
+      from this software without specific prior written permission.
+
+THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
+"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
+A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
+OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
+DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
+THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
+(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
+OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
diff --git a/Ref.cabal b/Ref.cabal
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/Ref.cabal
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+-- Initial Ref.cabal generated by cabal init.  For further documentation, 
+-- see http://haskell.org/cabal/users-guide/
+
+-- The name of the package.
+name:                Ref
+
+-- The package version.  See the Haskell package versioning policy (PVP) 
+-- for standards guiding when and how versions should be incremented.
+-- http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Package_versioning_policy
+-- PVP summary:      +-+------- breaking API changes
+--                   | | +----- non-breaking API additions
+--                   | | | +--- code changes with no API change
+version:             0.1.0.0
+
+-- A short (one-line) description of the package.
+synopsis:  Generic Mutable Ref Abstraction Layer           
+
+-- A longer description of the package.
+description:      
+    Ref is a generic layer over mutable references, currently only IO and ST refs.
+    Future extensions may include a generic api for shared state concurrency.
+
+-- The license under which the package is released.
+stability:     provisional
+homepage:      https://bitbucket.org/carter/ref
+--bug-reports:   
+copyright:     Copyright (C) 2013 Carter T Schonwald 
+license:             BSD3
+
+-- The file containing the license text.
+license-file:        LICENSE
+
+-- The package author(s).
+author:              Carter Tazio Schonwald
+
+-- An email address to which users can send suggestions, bug reports, and 
+-- patches.
+maintainer:          carter at wellposed dot com
+
+-- A copyright notice.
+-- copyright:           
+
+category:            Data
+
+build-type:          Simple
+
+-- Extra files to be distributed with the package, such as examples or a 
+-- README.
+-- extra-source-files:  
+
+-- Constraint on the version of Cabal needed to build this package.
+cabal-version:       >=1.10
+
+
+library
+  -- Modules exported by the library.
+   exposed-modules:     Data.Ref
+  
+  -- Modules included in this library but not exported.
+  -- other-modules:       
+  
+  -- LANGUAGE extensions used by modules in this package.
+  -- other-extensions:    
+  
+  -- Other library packages from which modules are imported.
+  build-depends:       base ==4.6.*
+  
+  -- Directories containing source files.
+  hs-source-dirs:      src
+  
+  -- Base language which the package is written in.
+  default-language:    Haskell2010
+  
diff --git a/Setup.hs b/Setup.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Setup.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+import Distribution.Simple
+main = defaultMain
diff --git a/src/Data/Ref.hs b/src/Data/Ref.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Data/Ref.hs
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+{-# LANGUAGE BangPatterns #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE TypeFamilies  #-}
+{-#  LANGUAGE DataKinds #-}
+
+module Data.Ref where
+
+{-  -}
+
+import qualified  Data.IORef as IR 
+import qualified  Data.STRef.Strict as SR 
+import Control.Monad.ST.Safe (ST)
+
+import Control.Monad 
+
+{- I can't  choose what sort of ref you give me,
+     nor can i change what the current monad is
+     so why bother using different operations for either?  
+
+    also i'm only providing the stict versions of the data types as applicable
+    , though other instances that are sensible are welcome.
+
+    also worth thinking about how to support analogous generic api for concurrent operations
+      -}
+
+class  Ref ref where
+    type RefM ref  :: * -> *
+    newRef :: a -> RefM ref (ref a)
+    newRef' :: a -> RefM ref (ref a)
+    readRef :: ref a -> RefM ref a
+    readRef' :: ref a -> RefM ref a
+    writeRef :: ref a -> a -> RefM ref ()
+    writeRef' :: ref a -> a -> RefM ref ()
+    modifyRef :: ref a -> (a-> a) -> RefM ref ()
+    modifyRef' :: ref a -> (a-> a) -> RefM ref ()
+
+instance  Ref IR.IORef where
+    type RefM IR.IORef = IO 
+    newRef  a = IR.newIORef a 
+    {-# INLINE newRef #-}
+    newRef' !a = IR.newIORef $! a 
+    {-# INLINE newRef' #-}
+    readRef  a  = IR.readIORef a
+    {-#  INLINE readRef #-}
+    readRef' !r = IR.readIORef  $! r 
+    {-# INLINE readRef' #-}
+    writeRef r a = IR.writeIORef r a 
+    {-# INLINE writeRef #-} 
+    writeRef' !r !a =IR.writeIORef  r  $! a 
+    {-# INLINE writeRef' #-}
+    modifyRef r f  = IR.modifyIORef r f 
+    {-# INLINE modifyRef #-}
+    modifyRef' r f = IR.modifyIORef' r f 
+    {-# INLINE modifyRef' #-}
+
+
+instance  Ref (SR.STRef s) where
+    type RefM (SR.STRef s) = ST s 
+    newRef  a = SR.newSTRef a 
+    {-# INLINE newRef #-}
+    newRef' !a = SR.newSTRef $! a 
+    {-# INLINE newRef' #-}
+    readRef  a  = SR.readSTRef a
+    {-#  INLINE readRef #-}
+    readRef' !r = SR.readSTRef  $! r 
+    {-# INLINE readRef' #-}
+    writeRef r a = SR.writeSTRef r a 
+    {-# INLINE writeRef #-} 
+    writeRef' !r !a =SR.writeSTRef  r  $! a 
+    {-# INLINE writeRef' #-}
+    modifyRef r f  = SR.modifySTRef r f 
+    {-# INLINE modifyRef #-}
+    modifyRef' r f = SR.modifySTRef' r f 
+    {-# INLINE modifyRef' #-}
+
+
+