Questions tagged [type-theory]
formal systems to specify properties of objects
485
questions
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what precisely do linear types prevent?
"A theory of type polymorphism in programming" introduced the Hindly-Milner type system whose punchline can be summarized "well-typed terms don’t get stuck". They do this by ...
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31 views
Axiomatic Geometry expressed with algebraic data types & functions
I've been trying to express an axiomatic geometry [1] using a typed functional language (OCaml so far).
My motivation comes from [2] and the claim "Programs correspond to logical proofs".
In ...
3
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0answers
67 views
Is it possible to recover induction for nat from W-types?
W-types generalize the type of well-founded trees, i.e., possibly infinetely branching trees. I understand that inductive types may be encoded as such in dependent type theory (CIC, MLTT, etc), this ...
4
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2answers
219 views
Why are Regular sets not closed under infinite unions and intersections? [duplicate]
Why are Regular sets not closed under infinite unions and intersections, with my flawled reasoning I came to a conclusion that since infinite unions can have no relationship between strings of a ...
1
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1answer
56 views
What is the origin of the Bottom Type notation? Why does it look like... a bottom?
I couldn't help but notice the opening summary in Wikipedia's article on Bottom Types:
In type theory, a theory within mathematical logic, the bottom type is the type that has no values. It is also ...
3
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0answers
19 views
Subtype Check with Type DAG
Trying to understand how compiler/static-type-checker checks for subtyping, I run into 2 problems.
1. Reachability in DAG
Since both Python/C++ support multiple inheriatnce, the types can be ...
5
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1answer
94 views
Free variables in constraint-typing derivation?
In Types and Programming Language's constraint typing rules (Figure 22-1), is it possible for any part of the typing derivation to contain free type variables that aren’t part of the fresh variables? ...
2
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0answers
22 views
Do all covariant type constructors F[+A] form a functor?
Do all covariant type constructors (using scala notation) F[+A] form a functor? If so, is there a proof of that? If not, what is a counterexample?
The related Are there any type constructors which are ...
2
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2answers
61 views
what are meta variables in this static analysis book's explanation about types?
At page 21 of this book: https://cs.au.dk/~amoeller/spa/spa.pdf I found this:
I started reading everything and understanding it pretty well, until this.
It's defining the possible types of a language....
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15 views
How Should I Disambiguate Symbols for Type Placeholders and the Free Monoid Operator?
I've been writing kinds using asterisk * as a placeholder for a type. For example 𝕋 → * is the kind of all functions of time. This was fine until I needed to use ...
2
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1answer
103 views
Which would be better for programming using Homotopy type theory Agda or Idris
I'm looking to model data inputs for an artificially intelligent system, which is affected by its internal parts and has feedback loops. I'd like to model it mathematically, using category theory or ...
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2answers
102 views
Given an algorithm, is it possible to find all other equivalent algorithms for the same computable function in the same model
For any computable-function, there may be multiple different algorithms (possibly countably infinite). For example, sort has many different implementations/algorithms, that we know of or that we have ...
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1answer
72 views
How do real numbers like Pi, golden ratio, etc fit into type theory
In type theory, all computable functions must terminate, however, numbers like Pi are non-terminating real numbers, hence a non-terminating function is required to compute this number, even though one ...
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1answer
47 views
Why does universe level restriction behave differently between inductive family and parameterized inductive type without axiom K in agda
An observation when defining List in agda with --without-K enabled:
The following parameterized inductive definition is accepted:...
1
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1answer
64 views
Is there a relationship between visitor pattern and DeMorgan's Law?
Visitor Pattern enables mimicking sum types with product types. Where does the "sum"-iness come from?
For example, in OCaml one could define ...
2
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0answers
51 views
Do any industry programming languages use Martin-Löf style identity types?
Most programming languages have some kind of type systems but are there any programming languages widely used outside of academia (in consumer-oriented tech, finance etc.) that have intensional ...
3
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0answers
47 views
What's the relationship between "semantic type soundness" and "functional correctness"?
In the Milner Award lecture "The Type Soundness Theorem That You Really Want to Prove (and now you can)" and related Sigplan blog post (with collaborators), Derek Dreyer argues that semantic ...
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0answers
27 views
Interpreting Minimal STLC using a $\lambda 1$ Category
On page 139, example 2.4.5 of "Categorical Logic and Type Theory" by Bart Jacobs demonstrates the interpretation of the abstraction typing rule with respect to a $\lambda 1$ category. ...
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1answer
84 views
Resources for implementing dependent type theory
I want to implement Martin Löf's intuitionistic type theory in a functional language such as Haskell, preferably also implementing a lexer/parser for the language. How should I start approaching it? ...
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20 views
Is there a uniform way of giving for any mathematical formula a hypercomputer that computes it?
Some mathematical formulas directly suggest an algorithm for computing it (even if sometimes an inefficient one).
For example, if we recursively define $\sum_{i=1}^nx_i=x_n+\sum_{i=1}^{n-1}x_i$, then ...
1
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1answer
43 views
Can we somehow get functoriality from purely type-theoretic reasoning?
In this question, I asked about how to prove naturality from parametric polymorphism, using parametricity. The current answer to that question simply assumes that the functors in question satisfy the ...
7
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2answers
181 views
Rigorous proof that parametric polymorphism implies naturality using parametricity?
This question asks for an informal explanation of why all polymorphic functions between functors are natural transformations (This is a claim made by Bartosz Milewski). One answer to that question ...
2
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1answer
48 views
What does $\text{dom}(\Gamma)$ mean in the context of an inference rule?
In the wikipedia page on pure type systems, it gives the following inference rule:
$\frac{\Gamma \vdash A : s \quad x \notin \text{dom}(\Gamma)}{\Gamma, x : A \vdash x : A }\quad \text{(start)}$
...
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56 views
Resources for connections between dependent type theory and LCCC
Can someone recommend introductory articles/papers on the connections between dependent type theory and locally cartesian closed category? Many Thanks!
2
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1answer
65 views
Is a system of equations derived from mutually recursive ADTs always uniquely solvable?
After looking at Can a computer determine whether a mathematical statement is true or not? for a while, I worry we may be into incompleteness/halting problem territory with this question, so an answer ...
2
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1answer
81 views
Curry–Howard correspondence and functional programming "reliability"
The first time I heard about functional programming, someone told me "it's more reliable to code in a functional style because your type system is like a proof of correctness".
I recently ...
2
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2answers
115 views
Does any language need to have a bottom type?
From wikipedia:
In type theory, a theory within mathematical logic, the bottom type is the type that has no values. It is also called the zero or empty type, and is sometimes denoted with the up tack ...
3
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1answer
160 views
What is an uninhabited type?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_inhabitation
The wiki article above says,
To be sound, such a system must have uninhabited types.
What is the definition an uninhabitated type? Do all programming ...
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0answers
36 views
Generalised letrec semantics for mutual recursion
I'm new to system types and I was wondering how mutual recursion is defined through generalized
e::= ..|let rec x1=e1 ,...., xn=en in e .What has to be added in the "simple" let rec ...
2
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0answers
29 views
How to specify mutated types mathematically?
Say I have an object which I pass to a method, and the method returns that same object, just mutated.
So it goes like this:
...
3
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1answer
85 views
Greatest fixpoint of the type of lists
I'm working through Samuel Mimram's book Program = Proof. In the first chapter, he discusses recursive types in OCaml, and inductive types. An exercise he provides on the topic has me a little bit ...
0
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0answers
49 views
What is the difference between type theory and logic programming (in terms of declarative programming and specification)
How is does type theory (coq, lean, agda), and logic programming (prolog, datalog) differ from each other.
Logic programming is a way of declarative specifying an algorithm, using classical 1st order ...
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1answer
304 views
Relationship between inductive families and type-returning functions
Dependently typed languages such as Agda support inductive families, also called indexed datatypes, which allow type parameters to vary between constructors. This can be used to define a set of ...
3
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1answer
76 views
Which language is used to construct a type system?
Typically, OCaml and Scala seem to be used for designing any programming languages tool. But what features offer them an edge over other languages.
A related question, is a type system for a language ...
2
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1answer
79 views
What are the most used statements in programming (ranked)?
I was wondering if there are any resources for a study/ranking of the most frequently used statements (by statements I mean assigning, invoking, instantiating etc, like in C#) in programming overall (...
3
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1answer
141 views
How to prove that the Church encoding, forall r. (F r -> r) -> r, gives an initial algebra of the functor F?
The well-known Church encoding of natural numbers can be generalized to use an arbitrary (covariant) functor F. The result is the type, call it ...
5
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2answers
194 views
What are the implications of Homotopy Type Theory?
I've recently come across the topic of homotopy type theory and I'm interested to learn more. I have a very limited background in type theory.
Can anyone tell me, in functional programming terms or ...
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0answers
32 views
Is the borrow checker mechanism in Rust based on quantitative types?
I was trying to understand if the borrow checking mechanism for references is actually a quantitaive type in disguise because it does look very similar. In case these are just similar but unrelated ...
2
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1answer
105 views
How does the undecidability of Extensional Martin-Löf Type Theory apply to real type-checking compilers?
It is claimed in many sources (for example, here) that adding a rule like "if Id(X,Y) then X really equals ...
3
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3answers
139 views
How do you have a type typed "Type" when implementing a programming language?
I am working on the base of a language model, and am wondering how to represent the base type, which is a type Type. I have heard of an "infinite chain of ...
2
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4answers
441 views
Is there such thing as "sequential types"?
I am wondering how you could possibly define the implementation of an imperative function as a type. Is it possible? Currently I only see the input parameters and output result used in the definition ...
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0answers
92 views
Can we think of a non-symmetric product type in Haskell?
Meta note: I asked this question here a while ago. It got an answer:
type a /\!! b = (a, ((b -> Void) -> Void))
Unfortunately, I do not reckon it to be ...
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2answers
86 views
1
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1answer
220 views
What's the difference between Row Polymorphism and Structural Typing?
The definitions I've stumbled across seem to indicate they express the same idea. That's that the relationship between record types is determined by their fields (or properties) rather than their ...
1
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1answer
43 views
Example of Dependent Types?
Say you have 3 objects, a global MemoryStore, which has an array of MemorySlabCache objects, and each ...
2
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1answer
109 views
Does canonicity imply weak normalization?
Context: type theory.
My understanding of:
WN: every term can rewrite to NF.
Canonicity: every term rewrites into canonical form.
Then it leads to an intuition where if canonicity holds, then we get ...
3
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0answers
64 views
Semantics of "write-once" variables for complex data structures
Question
My use case for what is described below is not a language or compiler implementation, but finding a reasonable semantics for this feature in a an abstract calculus.
Ideally, you give me a ...
4
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1answer
370 views
Why do we need a separate notation for П-types?
Main
I am confused about the motivation behind the need for a separate notation for П-types, that you can find in type systems from λ2 on. The answer usually goes like so - think about how one can ...
2
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1answer
138 views
Creating a large tuple from smaller tuples via a monad or applicative
Suppose I have a term $a :\alpha$ of the Simply-Typed Lambda Calculus (in the following, $\alpha, \beta, \gamma$ stand for arbitrary types) and I want to lift it to a term
$\lambda x_{\beta}. \;(x, \, ...
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0answers
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Difference between the logic and the type system of a proof assistant?
In Comparing Mathematical Provers (section 4.1), Wiedijk classifies logics and type systems of different proof assistants? I do not see what he means by type system of the assistant. He only says:
A ...
