Type Systems
Brief definitions
- Compatibility among composite types describes the behavior of functions applied to data typed similarly to its intended type. Name-based compatibility means that functions work only on data of its intended type and declared subtypes. Property-based compatibility means that functions work on any data that has the same properties as its intended type.
- Type checking determines whether and when types are verified. Static checking occurs at compile-time. Dynamic checking occurs at run-time.
Language | Type strength | Type safety | Type expression | Type compatibility among composites | Type checking |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ActionScript 3.0 | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | static | |
Ada | strong | safe | explicit | name-based | partially dynamic |
Aldor | strong | unsafe | implicit | static | |
ALGOL 58 | strong | safe | explicit | static | |
ALGOL 60 | strong | safe | explicit | static | |
ALGOL 68 | strong | safe | explicit | property-based | static |
APL | strong | safe | dynamic | ||
AutoHotkey | none | ||||
Ateji PX | strong | safe | explicit | name-based | static |
BASIC | varies by dialect | ||||
BLISS | none | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
BeanShell | strong | safe | name-based | dynamic | |
Boo | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | static with optional dynamic typing | |
C | weak | unsafe | explicit | name-based | static |
C++ (ISO/IEC 14882) | strong | unsafe | explicit | name-based | static |
C# | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | name-based | static |
Clean | strong | safe | implicit | static | |
Clojure | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | dynamic | |
COBOL | strong | static | |||
ColdFusion (CFML) | strong | safe | implicit | dynamic | |
Common Lisp | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | dynamic | |
Curl | strong | safe | name-based | ||
Cython | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | name-based (extension types) and property-based (Python) | dynamic with optional static typing |
D | strong | unsafe | explicit | name-based | static |
Dylan | strong | safe | dynamic | ||
Eiffel | strong | safe | name-based | static | |
Erlang | strong | safe | implicit | dynamic | |
Euphoria | strong | safe | explicit, implicit with objects | name-based | static, dynamic with objects |
F# | strong | safe | implicit | name-based | static |
Falcon | strong | safe | implicit | property-based | dynamic |
Forth | none | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Fortran | strong | safe | explicit | name-based | static |
Gambas | strong | safe | explicit | name-based | |
GLBasic | strong | safe | explicit. Non-explicit declarations available through project options | name-based | static |
Go | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | property-based | static |
Gosu | strong | safe | partially implicit (local type inference) | name-based (subclassing) and property-based (structural) | static |
GraphTalk | weak | ||||
Groovy | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | dynamic with optional static typing | |
Harbour | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | dynamic | |
Haskell | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | property-based | static |
haXe | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | name-based (subclassing) and property-based (structural) | static with optional dynamic typing |
Io | strong | safe | implicit | dynamic | |
ISLISP | strong | safe | dynamic | ||
J | strong | safe | dynamic | ||
Java | strong | safe | explicit | name-based | static |
JavaScript | weak | implicit | dynamic | ||
Joy | strong | safe | dynamic | ||
Lua | weak | safe | implicit | dynamic | |
Mathematica | strong | dynamic | |||
MATLAB M-code | dynamic | ||||
Modula-2 | strong | unsafe | explicit | name-based | static |
Modula-3 | strong | unsafe | explicit | property-based | static |
Oberon | strong | safe | explicit | name-based | static and partially dynamic |
Objective-C | weak | safe | explicit | name-based (subclassing) and property-based (protocols) | dynamic with optional static typing |
OCaml | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | property-based | static |
Object Pascal (Delphi) | strong | safe | explicit | name-based | static |
Opa | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | property-based | static |
Oxygene | strong | unsafe | implicit | static | |
Oz | strong | safe | implicit | property-based | dynamic |
Pascal | strong | unsafe | explicit | name-based | static |
Perl 5 | weak | implicit | dynamic | ||
Perl 6 | partially implicit | dynamic with optional static typing | |||
PHP | weak | implicit | dynamic | ||
Plus | strong | safe | explicit | property-based | static, dynamic (optional) |
Prolog | strong | dynamic | |||
Pure | dynamic | ||||
Python | strong | safe | implicit | property-based | dynamic |
REBOL | strong | safe | implicit | dynamic | |
RPG (IBM) | strong | unsafe | static | ||
Ruby | strong | safe | implicit | property-based | dynamic |
Rust | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | static with optional dynamic typing | |
S | strong | dynamic | |||
S-Lang | strong | safe | implicit | dynamic | |
Scala | strong | safe | partially implicit (local type inference) | name-based (subclassing) and property-based (structural) | static |
Scheme | strong | implicit | dynamic (latent) | ||
Simula | strong | safe | static | ||
Smalltalk | strong | safe | implicit | dynamic | |
Standard ML | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | property-based | static |
Tcl | dynamic | ||||
Visual Basic | strong | safe | implicit with optional explicit typing | name-based | static |
Visual Basic .NET | strong | unsafe | explicit | static | |
Visual Prolog | strong | safe | partially implicit | name-based | static |
Windows PowerShell | strong | safe | implicit | dynamic | |
XL | strong | safe | name-based | static | |
Language | Type strength | Type safety | Type expression | Type compatibility among composites | Type checking |
Read more about this topic: Comparison Of Programming Languages
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