3 ms·

To be fair, enums represent a different and incompatible concept in every language I know. It's possible to support everybody's needs in a single language, but

by o11c 1y ago

To be fair, enums represent a different and incompatible concept in every language I know. It's possible to support everybody's needs in a single language, but I'm not aware of any language that has done it yet.

bsaul 1y ago
"enums represent a different and incompatible concept in every language I know." Enums has always felt very natural in every modern languages i've tried (swift and rust, for example), even with associated values. The underlying "sum type" concept also is very intuitive, and seems very complementary to structs for example. Can you expand a bit on what you mean ?
- __s 1y ago
  Sum types are cool. Many languages implement enums which are not tagged union sum types (even when language has rich sum types) https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/language/enum https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/language/enum https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/language-reference/language-specification/enums https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/language-ref... https://docs.python.org/3/library/enum.html https://docs.python.org/3/library/enum.html https://api.rubyonrails.org/v5.2.4.5/classes/ActiveRecord/Enum.html https://api.rubyonrails.org/v5.2.4.5/classes/ActiveRecord/En... https://sorbet.org/docs/tenum https://sorbet.org/docs/tenum https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/javaOO/enum.html https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/javaOO/enum.htm... https://dart.dev/language/enums https://dart.dev/language/enums https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/datatype-enum.html https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/datatype-enum.html https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.4/en/enum.html https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.4/en/enum.html https://zig.guide/language-basics/enums https://zig.guide/language-basics/enums https://www.erlang.org/eeps/eep-0013 https://www.erlang.org/eeps/eep-0013 https://hackage.haskell.org/package/planet-mitchell-0.1.0/docs/Enum.html https://hackage.haskell.org/package/planet-mitchell-0.1.0/do... https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/openxl-fortran-aix/17.1.1?topic=attributes-enumend-enum-fortran-2003 https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/openxl-fortran-aix/17.1.1?topic=...
- willtemperley 1y ago
  This. I find Swift and Rust enums, which are indeed very similar, to be incredibly good at modelling the real world. For example the standard geospatial vector types which are heterogeneous and even recursive in the case of GeometryCollections can be modelled and operated upon very cleanly.
za3faran 1y ago
Have you tried them in Java?
- sebazzz 1y ago
  Java enums are more or less a “multiton” (as in singleton - for each value each)
  - vips7L 1y ago
    And if you want rust style enums in Java you can use sealed types.
protolyticmind 1y ago
Rust has IMHO the best implementation of enums ... Mixed with match it is super powerful
- aldanor 1y ago
  Don't forget, Rust was first implemented in OCaml, you can guess where those best enums come from.
- sureglymop 1y ago
  Kotlins enum classes are quite similar, probably even inspired by rust or prior ML languages. And there's `when` as an alternative to match. Kotlins syntax is in general a bit underrated imo and I disagree that Java is up to par.

by o11c 1y ago

bsaul 1y ago

"enums represent a different and incompatible concept in every language I know." Enums has always felt very natural in every modern languages i've tried (swift and rust, for example), even with associated values. The underlying "sum type" concept also is very intuitive, and seems very complementary to structs for example. Can you expand a bit on what you mean ?

__s 1y ago
Sum types are cool. Many languages implement enums which are not tagged union sum types (even when language has rich sum types) https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/language/enum https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/language/enum https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/language-reference/language-specification/enums https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/language-ref... https://docs.python.org/3/library/enum.html https://docs.python.org/3/library/enum.html https://api.rubyonrails.org/v5.2.4.5/classes/ActiveRecord/Enum.html https://api.rubyonrails.org/v5.2.4.5/classes/ActiveRecord/En... https://sorbet.org/docs/tenum https://sorbet.org/docs/tenum https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/javaOO/enum.html https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/javaOO/enum.htm... https://dart.dev/language/enums https://dart.dev/language/enums https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/datatype-enum.html https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/datatype-enum.html https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.4/en/enum.html https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.4/en/enum.html https://zig.guide/language-basics/enums https://zig.guide/language-basics/enums https://www.erlang.org/eeps/eep-0013 https://www.erlang.org/eeps/eep-0013 https://hackage.haskell.org/package/planet-mitchell-0.1.0/docs/Enum.html https://hackage.haskell.org/package/planet-mitchell-0.1.0/do... https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/openxl-fortran-aix/17.1.1?topic=attributes-enumend-enum-fortran-2003 https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/openxl-fortran-aix/17.1.1?topic=...
willtemperley 1y ago
This. I find Swift and Rust enums, which are indeed very similar, to be incredibly good at modelling the real world. For example the standard geospatial vector types which are heterogeneous and even recursive in the case of GeometryCollections can be modelled and operated upon very cleanly.

za3faran 1y ago

Have you tried them in Java?

sebazzz 1y ago
Java enums are more or less a “multiton” (as in singleton - for each value each)
- vips7L 1y ago
  And if you want rust style enums in Java you can use sealed types.

protolyticmind 1y ago

Rust has IMHO the best implementation of enums ... Mixed with match it is super powerful

aldanor 1y ago
Don't forget, Rust was first implemented in OCaml, you can guess where those best enums come from.
sureglymop 1y ago
Kotlins enum classes are quite similar, probably even inspired by rust or prior ML languages. And there's `when` as an alternative to match. Kotlins syntax is in general a bit underrated imo and I disagree that Java is up to par.