I know a lot of people like to say how unhelpful Java like static typing is, and only more powerful type systems of the ML family add value, but I've been wondering recently if for Clojure it wouldn't make more sense to simply extend the type hints to enable an optional Java like static typing scheme.
It is my understanding that ML style static typing is incredibly difficult to add properly and without compromise to a dynamic language. That doing so limits the scope of type inference, rendering the task of adding type info more tedious then in ML languages themselves. ML style static typing provide enhanced safety grantees, but seem to add too much complexity to Clojure to be practical. What about a Java like static typing scheme though? I haven't found in practice that the safety of Clojure was an issue, as the REPL workflow tend to promote quite a lot of testing. So I'm not too worried about needing the state of the art of provable correctness for my programs. What has been a biggest cause of issue to me was refactoring and shared code base across a team. Those last two use cases are actually pretty well handled by Java like static type checking. Is it a powerful type checker, not really, but it enables most trivial type errors to be caught early, and it allows easier integration points for other devs to follow, as well as documentation for functions, better tools support and easier refactoring, while also enabling performance optimizations. I have limited knowledge in typing systems, and have no idea how easy it is to implement them, but as a user of Clojure, I feel like I would find an optional Java like static typing a great addition, one that I am more willing to use and benefit from then Typed Clojure's more complex ML style type checking. What do other think? Can anyone with better knowledge tell me if this would be feasible or if adding such gradual typing system is effectively as hard as adding ML style type checking? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Clojure" group. To post to this group, send email to clojure@googlegroups.com Note that posts from new members are moderated - please be patient with your first post. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/clojure?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Clojure" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
