meaning of type inference

1. type inference An algorithm for ascribing types to expressions in some language, based on the types of the constants of the language and a set of type inference rules such as f :: A -> B, x :: A --------------------- App f x :: B This rule, called "App" for application, says that if expression f has type A -> B and expression x has type A then we can deduce that expression f x has type B. The expressions above the line are the premises and below, the conclusion. An alternative notation often used is: G |- x : A where "|-" is the turnstile symbol LaTeX vdash and G is a type assignment for the free variables of expression x. The above can be read "under assumptions G, expression x has type A". As in Haskell, we use a double "::" for type declarations and a single ":" for the infix list constructor cons. Given an expression plus head l 1 we can label each subexpression with a type, using type variables X, Y, etc. for unknown types: plus :: Int -> Int -> Int head :: [a] -> a l :: Y :: X 1 :: Int We then use unification on type variables to match the partial application of plus to its first argument against the App rule, yielding a type Int -> Int and a substitution X = Int. Re-using App for the application to the second argument gives an overall type Int and no further substitutions. Similarly, matching App against the application head l we get Y = [X]. We already know X = Int so therefore Y = [Int]. This process is used both to infer types for expressions and to check that any types given by the user are consistent. See also generic type variable, principal type.

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