4 ms·

Can you name a language/ecosystem that gets it right?

jjjensen90 6y ago
Though I don't think it's perfect, languages like Go that treat errors as simply another type and you check as a return value do get closer to treating errors and success symmetrically versus an exception throwing and typing system like some other languages.
- monocasa 6y ago
  Building on that, the ADT languages with full option types here are fantastic here, because the shape of the data in each case can be taught to the compiler.
dinosaurdynasty 6y ago
Rust seems pretty close to this (with Result<T, E>), though there is also the panic system.
- platz 6y ago
  it's trivial in any language to define and use a Result<T, E> type.
  - aw1621107 6y ago
    That depends a lot on what you mean by "use". Pretty much every commonly used language would be able to define something that can hold one of two things and provide ways to determine which one is present and retrieve one of the two options, but comparatively few are going to be able to provide the same guards against accidental or intentional misuse that pattern matching gets you.
  - saagarjha 6y ago
    No, not really. Languages that don’t really embrace such a type can usually never make its use ergonomic. Adding such a construct to C or Java would be “trivial” but its use would be exceedingly painful.
    - The_rationalist 6y ago
      Here's an example of a result type in Kotlin implemented as a library monad. (the language is getting an official one but is currently less featureful than this lib) You can use exception or Result depending on when it makes the most sense and this is the best of both worlds. https://github.com/kittinunf/Result https://github.com/kittinunf/Result
      - saagarjha 6y ago
        Swift had a bunch for a while too, but it’s getting an official one as well. Again, that’s only because the language provides the right tools for it to exist, in languages where you don’t have this you’re going to have a very hard time trying to add these things in.
vvanders 6y ago
Erlang / OTP.

Though I don't think it's perfect, languages like Go that treat errors as simply another type and you check as a return value do get closer to treating errors and success symmetrically versus an exception throwing and typing system like some other languages.

monocasa 6y ago
Building on that, the ADT languages with full option types here are fantastic here, because the shape of the data in each case can be taught to the compiler.

dinosaurdynasty 6y ago

Rust seems pretty close to this (with Result<T, E>), though there is also the panic system.

platz 6y ago
it's trivial in any language to define and use a Result<T, E> type.
- aw1621107 6y ago
  That depends a lot on what you mean by "use". Pretty much every commonly used language would be able to define something that can hold one of two things and provide ways to determine which one is present and retrieve one of the two options, but comparatively few are going to be able to provide the same guards against accidental or intentional misuse that pattern matching gets you.
- saagarjha 6y ago
  No, not really. Languages that don’t really embrace such a type can usually never make its use ergonomic. Adding such a construct to C or Java would be “trivial” but its use would be exceedingly painful.
  - The_rationalist 6y ago
    Here's an example of a result type in Kotlin implemented as a library monad. (the language is getting an official one but is currently less featureful than this lib) You can use exception or Result depending on when it makes the most sense and this is the best of both worlds. https://github.com/kittinunf/Result https://github.com/kittinunf/Result
    - saagarjha 6y ago
      Swift had a bunch for a while too, but it’s getting an official one as well. Again, that’s only because the language provides the right tools for it to exist, in languages where you don’t have this you’re going to have a very hard time trying to add these things in.

vvanders 6y ago

Erlang / OTP.