3 ms·

That's really an odd post. The Hindley-Milner type inference algorithm is from ~1969. Advanced static typing systems have been around for ages, it's not like

by mrkurt 17y ago

That's really an odd post. The Hindley-Milner type inference algorithm is from ~1969. Advanced static typing systems have been around for ages, it's not like we suddenly have the capability of building languages with them. Mark me down as confused about what the author was trying to say here.

mahmud 17y ago
The article is very similar in spirit to my hit 2008 research paper "Forward Motion in Automobiles". All kidding aside, he probably should have named the article "Static Type-checking in Lisp", and we would have still been just as unimpressed because he forgot to mention Qi; the single most innovative Lisp from the last 20 years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi_%28programming_language%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi_%28programming_language%29
- mgreenbe 17y ago
  Or any of the other soft/partial/gradual typing work that's been ongoing since the 80s. Check out Jeremy Siek's papers on gradual typing for some of the latest. Also Tobin-Hochstadt and Felleisen's work on Typed Scheme. On the one hand, this is ridiculous. On the other hand, I'm happy to see people outside of PL thinking about programming languages. There are a number of texts that can help a novice learn more about the topic, with Pierce's Types and Programming Languages being the foremost.
  - tnovelli 17y ago
    Interesting... I hadn't heard of Siek's work before. A link: http://ecee.colorado.edu/~siek/gradualtyping.html http://ecee.colorado.edu/~siek/gradualtyping.html
joe_the_user 17y ago
Could you supply an example of an "older advanced static typing system"?
- Zaak 17y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ML_(programming_language) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ML_(programming_language)
- blasdel 17y ago
  The first ML implementation by Luca Cardelli was done at the same time as K&R C was fully implemented. 36 years ago!
tnovelli 17y ago
> So, suddenly it all came together for me. He seems new to this stuff. Nothing really advanced here, but he brings up a big unresolved issue in language design in a way that probably makes sense to a Java-educated college student. BTW, Hindley said the concept predates computers; there's been a lot of refinement before and after 1969. (http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/types/archives/1988/msg00042.html http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/types/archives/1988/msg00...)

by mrkurt 17y ago

mahmud 17y ago

The article is very similar in spirit to my hit 2008 research paper "Forward Motion in Automobiles". All kidding aside, he probably should have named the article "Static Type-checking in Lisp", and we would have still been just as unimpressed because he forgot to mention Qi; the single most innovative Lisp from the last 20 years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi_%28programming_language%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi_%28programming_language%29

mgreenbe 17y ago
Or any of the other soft/partial/gradual typing work that's been ongoing since the 80s. Check out Jeremy Siek's papers on gradual typing for some of the latest. Also Tobin-Hochstadt and Felleisen's work on Typed Scheme. On the one hand, this is ridiculous. On the other hand, I'm happy to see people outside of PL thinking about programming languages. There are a number of texts that can help a novice learn more about the topic, with Pierce's Types and Programming Languages being the foremost.
- tnovelli 17y ago
  Interesting... I hadn't heard of Siek's work before. A link: http://ecee.colorado.edu/~siek/gradualtyping.html http://ecee.colorado.edu/~siek/gradualtyping.html

joe_the_user 17y ago

Could you supply an example of an "older advanced static typing system"?

Zaak 17y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ML_(programming_language) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ML_(programming_language)
blasdel 17y ago
The first ML implementation by Luca Cardelli was done at the same time as K&R C was fully implemented. 36 years ago!

tnovelli 17y ago

> So, suddenly it all came together for me. He seems new to this stuff. Nothing really advanced here, but he brings up a big unresolved issue in language design in a way that probably makes sense to a Java-educated college student. BTW, Hindley said the concept predates computers; there's been a lot of refinement before and after 1969. (http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/types/archives/1988/msg00042.html http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/types/archives/1988/msg00...)