A visualisation of polymorphic type checking

Abstract

The understanding of polymorphic typechecking and type errors is poorly supported by contemporary functional language implementations. Here, a novel visualisation of functions and their types is presented based on the generation of function specific icons with graphical type representations which change dynamically as functions are applied. This visualisation has been implemented for a Standard ML subset within a graphical environment in which function combinations are constrained by type matching.

Safety concerns regarding the use of visual programming in civilian avionics software

“…Jung [19] specifically develops a VPL which displays function specific icons that contain type representations so that the programmer can see the object types. The resulting language constrains function combinations by type matching which helps eliminate errors due to type mismatch.…”

Welcome to the Educational Pearls Column

“…Fortunately, there are already attempts to produce good program development environments or environment tools. Jung and Michaelson (Jung & Michaelson, 2000) proposed an interesting idea concerning the visualization of polymorphic type checking in this journal two years ago, and I am hoping to see educational pearls on teaching with types and type errors. My team's DrScheme programming environment is an example of a comprehensive pedagogic effort (Findler et al, 2002); I intend to report on developments on this project on a regular basis.…”