sanctuary-def is a run-time type system for JavaScript. It facilitates the definition of curried JavaScript functions that are explicit about the number of arguments to which they may be applied and the types of those arguments.
It is conventional to import the package as $:
const $ = require ('sanctuary-def');The next step is to define an environment. An environment is an array
of types. env is an environment containing all the built-in
JavaScript types. It may be used as the basis for environments that
include custom types in addition to the built-in types:
// Integer :: Type
const Integer = '...';
// NonZeroInteger :: Type
const NonZeroInteger = '...';
// env :: Array Type
const env = $.env.concat ([Integer, NonZeroInteger]);Type constructors such as List :: Type -> Type cannot be included in
an environment as they're not of the correct type. One could, though,
use a type constructor to define a fixed number of concrete types:
// env :: Array Type
const env = $.env.concat ([
List ($.Number), // :: Type
List ($.String), // :: Type
List (List ($.Number)), // :: Type
List (List ($.String)), // :: Type
List (List (List ($.Number))), // :: Type
List (List (List ($.String))), // :: Type
]);Not only would this be tedious, but one could never enumerate all possible
types as there are infinitely many. Instead, one should use Unknown:
// env :: Array Type
const env = $.env.concat ([List ($.Unknown)]);The next step is to define a def function for the environment using
$.create:
// def :: String -> StrMap (Array TypeClass) -> Array Type -> Function -> Function
const def = $.create ({checkTypes: true, env});The checkTypes option determines whether type checking is enabled.
This allows one to only pay the performance cost of run-time type checking
during development. For example:
// def :: String -> StrMap (Array TypeClass) -> Array Type -> Function -> Function
const def = $.create ({
checkTypes: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development',
env,
});def is a function for defining functions. For example:
// add :: Number -> Number -> Number
const add =
def ('add') // name
({}) // type-class constraints
([$.Number, $.Number, $.Number]) // input and output types
(x => y => x + y); // implementation[$.Number, $.Number, $.Number] specifies that add takes two arguments
of type Number, one at a time, and returns a value of type Number.
Applying add to two arguments, one at a time, gives the expected result:
add (2) (2);
// => 4Applying add to multiple arguments at once results in an exception being
thrown:
add (2, 2, 2);
// ! TypeError: ‘add’ applied to the wrong number of arguments
//
// add :: Number -> Number -> Number
// ^^^^^^
// 1
//
// Expected one argument but received three arguments:
//
// - 2
// - 2
// - 2Applying add to one argument produces a function awaiting the remaining
argument. This is known as partial application. Partial application allows
more specific functions to be defined in terms of more general ones:
// inc :: Number -> Number
const inc = add (1);
inc (7);
// => 8JavaScript's implicit type coercion often obfuscates the source of type errors. Consider the following function:
// _add :: Number -> Number -> Number
const _add = x => y => x + y;The type signature indicates that _add takes arguments of type Number,
but this is not enforced. This allows type errors to be silently ignored:
_add ('2') ('2');
// => '22'add, on the other hand, throws if applied to arguments of the wrong
types:
add ('2') ('2');
// ! TypeError: Invalid value
//
// add :: Number -> Number -> Number
// ^^^^^^
// 1
//
// 1) "2" :: String
//
// The value at position 1 is not a member of ‘Number’.Type checking is performed as arguments are provided (rather than once all arguments have been provided), so type errors are reported early:
add ('X');
// ! TypeError: Invalid value
//
// add :: Number -> Number -> Number
// ^^^^^^
// 1
//
// 1) "X" :: String
//
// The value at position 1 is not a member of ‘Number’.Conceptually, a type is a set of values. One can think of a value of
type Type as a function of type Any -> Boolean that tests values
for membership in the set (though this is an oversimplification).
Type used to represent missing type information. The type of [],
for example, is Array ???.
May be used with type constructors when defining environments. Given a
type constructor List :: Type -> Type, one could use List ($.Unknown)
to include an infinite number of types in an environment:
List NumberList StringList (List Number)List (List String)List (List (List Number))List (List (List String))...
Uninhabited type.
May be used to convey that a type parameter of an algebraic data type
will not be used. For example, a future of type Future Void String
will never be rejected.
Type comprising every JavaScript value.
Type comprising every Function value.
Type comprising every arguments object.
Constructor for homogeneous Array types.
Type whose sole member is [].
Constructor for singleton Array types.
Constructor for heterogeneous Array types of length 2. ['foo', true] is
a member of Array2 String Boolean.
Type comprising true and false.
Type comprising every Buffer object.
Type comprising every Date value.
Type comprising every Date value except new Date (NaN).
Descending type constructor.
Either type constructor.
Type comprising every Error value, including values of more specific
constructors such as SyntaxError and TypeError.
Binary type constructor for unary function types. $.Fn (I) (O)
represents I -> O, the type of functions that take a value of
type I and return a value of type O.
Constructor for Function types.
Examples:
$.Function ([$.Date, $.String])represents theDate -> Stringtype; and$.Function ([a, b, a])represents the(a, b) -> atype.
Type comprising every HTML element.
Identity type constructor.
Constructor for native Map types. $.JsMap ($.Number) ($.String),
for example, is the type comprising every native Map whose keys are
numbers and whose values are strings.
Constructor for native Set types. $.JsSet ($.Number), for example,
is the type comprising every native Set whose values are numbers.
Maybe type constructor.
Type comprising every ES module.
Constructor for non-empty types. $.NonEmpty ($.String), for example, is
the type comprising every String value except ''.
The given type must satisfy the Monoid and Setoid specifications.
Type whose sole member is null.
Constructor for types that include null as a member.
Type comprising every primitive Number value (including NaN).
Type comprising every Number value greater than zero.
Type comprising every Number value less than zero.
Type comprising every Number value except NaN.
Type comprising every ValidNumber value except 0 and -0.
Type comprising every ValidNumber value except Infinity and
-Infinity.
Type comprising every FiniteNumber value except 0 and -0.
Type comprising every FiniteNumber value greater than zero.
Type comprising every FiniteNumber value less than zero.
Type comprising every integer in the range
[Number.MIN_SAFE_INTEGER .. Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER].
Type comprising every Integer value except 0 and -0.
Type comprising every non-negative Integer value (including -0).
Also known as the set of natural numbers under ISO 80000-2:2009.
Type comprising every Integer value greater than zero.
Type comprising every Integer value less than zero.
Type comprising every "plain" Object value. Specifically, values created via:
- object literal syntax;
Object.create; or- the
newoperator in conjunction withObjector a custom constructor function.
Pair type constructor.
Type comprising every RegExp value.
Type comprising every RegExp value whose global flag is true.
See also NonGlobalRegExp.
Type comprising every RegExp value whose global flag is false.
See also GlobalRegExp.
Constructor for homogeneous Object types.
{foo: 1, bar: 2, baz: 3}, for example, is a member of StrMap Number;
{foo: 1, bar: 2, baz: 'XXX'} is not.
Type comprising every primitive String value.
Type comprising the canonical RegExp flags:
'''g''i''m''gi''gm''im''gim'
Type comprising every Symbol value.
Type comprising every Type value.
Type comprising every TypeClass value.
Type whose sole member is undefined.
An array of types:
AnyFunctionArgumentsArray (Unknown)Array2 (Unknown) (Unknown)BooleanBufferDateDescending (Unknown)Either (Unknown) (Unknown)ErrorFn (Unknown) (Unknown)HtmlElementIdentity (Unknown)JsMap (Unknown) (Unknown)JsSet (Unknown)Maybe (Unknown)ModuleNullNumberObjectPair (Unknown) (Unknown)RegExpStrMap (Unknown)StringSymbolTypeTypeClassUndefined
Takes an environment, a type, and any value. Returns true if the value
is a member of the type; false otherwise.
The environment is only significant if the type contains type variables.
sanctuary-def provides several functions for defining types.
Type constructor for types with no type variables (such as Number).
To define a nullary type t one must provide:
-
the name of
t(exposed ast.name); -
the documentation URL of
t(exposed ast.url); -
an array of supertypes (exposed as
t.supertypes); and -
a predicate that accepts any value that is a member of every one of the given supertypes, and returns
trueif (and only if) the value is a member oft.
For example:
// Integer :: Type
const Integer = $.NullaryType
('Integer')
('http://example.com/my-package#Integer')
([])
(x => typeof x === 'number' &&
Math.floor (x) === x &&
x >= Number.MIN_SAFE_INTEGER &&
x <= Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER);
// NonZeroInteger :: Type
const NonZeroInteger = $.NullaryType
('NonZeroInteger')
('http://example.com/my-package#NonZeroInteger')
([Integer])
(x => x !== 0);
// rem :: Integer -> NonZeroInteger -> Integer
const rem =
def ('rem')
({})
([Integer, NonZeroInteger, Integer])
(x => y => x % y);
rem (42) (5);
// => 2
rem (0.5);
// ! TypeError: Invalid value
//
// rem :: Integer -> NonZeroInteger -> Integer
// ^^^^^^^
// 1
//
// 1) 0.5 :: Number
//
// The value at position 1 is not a member of ‘Integer’.
//
// See http://example.com/my-package#Integer for information about the Integer type.
rem (42) (0);
// ! TypeError: Invalid value
//
// rem :: Integer -> NonZeroInteger -> Integer
// ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
// 1
//
// 1) 0 :: Number
//
// The value at position 1 is not a member of ‘NonZeroInteger’.
//
// See http://example.com/my-package#NonZeroInteger for information about the NonZeroInteger type.UnaryType :: Foldable f => String -> String -> Array Type -> (Any -> Boolean) -> (t a -> f a) -> Type -> Type
Type constructor for types with one type variable (such as Array).
To define a unary type t a one must provide:
-
the name of
t(exposed ast.name); -
the documentation URL of
t(exposed ast.url); -
an array of supertypes (exposed as
t.supertypes); -
a predicate that accepts any value that is a member of every one of the given supertypes, and returns
trueif (and only if) the value is a member oft xfor some typex; -
a function that takes any value of type
t aand returns the values of typeacontained in thet; and -
the type of
a.
For example:
const show = require ('sanctuary-show');
const type = require ('sanctuary-type-identifiers');
// maybeTypeIdent :: String
const maybeTypeIdent = 'my-package/Maybe';
// Maybe :: Type -> Type
const Maybe = $.UnaryType
('Maybe')
('http://example.com/my-package#Maybe')
([])
(x => type (x) === maybeTypeIdent)
(maybe => maybe.isJust ? [maybe.value] : []);
// Nothing :: Maybe a
const Nothing = {
'isJust': false,
'isNothing': true,
'@@type': maybeTypeIdent,
'@@show': () => 'Nothing',
};
// Just :: a -> Maybe a
const Just = x => ({
'isJust': true,
'isNothing': false,
'@@type': maybeTypeIdent,
'@@show': () => `Just (${show (x)})`,
'value': x,
});
// fromMaybe :: a -> Maybe a -> a
const fromMaybe =
def ('fromMaybe')
({})
([a, Maybe (a), a])
(x => m => m.isJust ? m.value : x);
fromMaybe (0) (Just (42));
// => 42
fromMaybe (0) (Nothing);
// => 0
fromMaybe (0) (Just ('XXX'));
// ! TypeError: Type-variable constraint violation
//
// fromMaybe :: a -> Maybe a -> a
// ^ ^
// 1 2
//
// 1) 0 :: Number
//
// 2) "XXX" :: String
//
// Since there is no type of which all the above values are members, the type-variable constraint has been violated.BinaryType :: Foldable f => String -> String -> Array Type -> (Any -> Boolean) -> (t a b -> f a) -> (t a b -> f b) -> Type -> Type -> Type
Type constructor for types with two type variables (such as
Array2).
To define a binary type t a b one must provide:
-
the name of
t(exposed ast.name); -
the documentation URL of
t(exposed ast.url); -
an array of supertypes (exposed as
t.supertypes); -
a predicate that accepts any value that is a member of every one of the given supertypes, and returns
trueif (and only if) the value is a member oft x yfor some typesxandy; -
a function that takes any value of type
t a band returns the values of typeacontained in thet; -
a function that takes any value of type
t a band returns the values of typebcontained in thet; -
the type of
a; and -
the type of
b.
For example:
const type = require ('sanctuary-type-identifiers');
// pairTypeIdent :: String
const pairTypeIdent = 'my-package/Pair';
// $Pair :: Type -> Type -> Type
const $Pair = $.BinaryType
('Pair')
('http://example.com/my-package#Pair')
([])
(x => type (x) === pairTypeIdent)
(({fst}) => [fst])
(({snd}) => [snd]);
// Pair :: a -> b -> Pair a b
const Pair =
def ('Pair')
({})
([a, b, $Pair (a) (b)])
(fst => snd => ({
'fst': fst,
'snd': snd,
'@@type': pairTypeIdent,
'@@show': () => `Pair (${show (fst)}) (${show (snd)})`,
}));
// Rank :: Type
const Rank = $.NullaryType
('Rank')
('http://example.com/my-package#Rank')
([$.String])
(x => /^(A|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|J|Q|K)$/.test (x));
// Suit :: Type
const Suit = $.NullaryType
('Suit')
('http://example.com/my-package#Suit')
([$.String])
(x => /^[\u2660\u2663\u2665\u2666]$/.test (x));
// Card :: Type
const Card = $Pair (Rank) (Suit);
// showCard :: Card -> String
const showCard =
def ('showCard')
({})
([Card, $.String])
(card => card.fst + card.snd);
showCard (Pair ('A') ('♠'));
// => 'A♠'
showCard (Pair ('X') ('♠'));
// ! TypeError: Invalid value
//
// showCard :: Pair Rank Suit -> String
// ^^^^
// 1
//
// 1) "X" :: String
//
// The value at position 1 is not a member of ‘Rank’.
//
// See http://example.com/my-package#Rank for information about the Rank type.Type constructor for enumerated types (such as RegexFlags).
To define an enumerated type t one must provide:
-
the name of
t(exposed ast.name); -
the documentation URL of
t(exposed ast.url); and -
an array of distinct values.
For example:
// Denomination :: Type
const Denomination = $.EnumType
('Denomination')
('http://example.com/my-package#Denomination')
([10, 20, 50, 100, 200]);RecordType is used to construct anonymous record types. The type
definition specifies the name and type of each required field. A field is
an enumerable property (either an own property or an inherited property).
To define an anonymous record type one must provide:
- an object mapping field name to type.
For example:
// Point :: Type
const Point = $.RecordType ({x: $.FiniteNumber, y: $.FiniteNumber});
// dist :: Point -> Point -> FiniteNumber
const dist =
def ('dist')
({})
([Point, Point, $.FiniteNumber])
(p => q => Math.sqrt (Math.pow (p.x - q.x, 2) +
Math.pow (p.y - q.y, 2)));
dist ({x: 0, y: 0}) ({x: 3, y: 4});
// => 5
dist ({x: 0, y: 0}) ({x: 3, y: 4, color: 'red'});
// => 5
dist ({x: 0, y: 0}) ({x: NaN, y: NaN});
// ! TypeError: Invalid value
//
// dist :: { x :: FiniteNumber, y :: FiniteNumber } -> { x :: FiniteNumber, y :: FiniteNumber } -> FiniteNumber
// ^^^^^^^^^^^^
// 1
//
// 1) NaN :: Number
//
// The value at position 1 is not a member of ‘FiniteNumber’.
dist (0);
// ! TypeError: Invalid value
//
// dist :: { x :: FiniteNumber, y :: FiniteNumber } -> { x :: FiniteNumber, y :: FiniteNumber } -> FiniteNumber
// ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
// 1
//
// 1) 0 :: Number
//
// The value at position 1 is not a member of ‘{ x :: FiniteNumber, y :: FiniteNumber }’.NamedRecordType is used to construct named record types. The type
definition specifies the name and type of each required field. A field is
an enumerable property (either an own property or an inherited property).
To define a named record type t one must provide:
-
the name of
t(exposed ast.name); -
the documentation URL of
t(exposed ast.url); -
an array of supertypes (exposed as
t.supertypes); and -
an object mapping field name to type.
For example:
// Circle :: Type
const Circle = $.NamedRecordType
('my-package/Circle')
('http://example.com/my-package#Circle')
([])
({radius: $.PositiveFiniteNumber});
// Cylinder :: Type
const Cylinder = $.NamedRecordType
('Cylinder')
('http://example.com/my-package#Cylinder')
([Circle])
({height: $.PositiveFiniteNumber});
// volume :: Cylinder -> PositiveFiniteNumber
const volume =
def ('volume')
({})
([Cylinder, $.FiniteNumber])
(cyl => Math.PI * cyl.radius * cyl.radius * cyl.height);
volume ({radius: 2, height: 10});
// => 125.66370614359172
volume ({radius: 2});
// ! TypeError: Invalid value
//
// volume :: Cylinder -> FiniteNumber
// ^^^^^^^^
// 1
//
// 1) {"radius": 2} :: Object, StrMap Number
//
// The value at position 1 is not a member of ‘Cylinder’.
//
// See http://example.com/my-package#Cylinder for information about the Cylinder type.Polymorphism is powerful. Not being able to define a function for all types would be very limiting indeed: one couldn't even define the identity function!
Before defining a polymorphic function one must define one or more type variables:
const a = $.TypeVariable ('a');
const b = $.TypeVariable ('b');
// id :: a -> a
const id = def ('id') ({}) ([a, a]) (x => x);
id (42);
// => 42
id (null);
// => nullThe same type variable may be used in multiple positions, creating a constraint:
// cmp :: a -> a -> Number
const cmp =
def ('cmp')
({})
([a, a, $.Number])
(x => y => x < y ? -1 : x > y ? 1 : 0);
cmp (42) (42);
// => 0
cmp ('a') ('z');
// => -1
cmp ('z') ('a');
// => 1
cmp (0) ('1');
// ! TypeError: Type-variable constraint violation
//
// cmp :: a -> a -> Number
// ^ ^
// 1 2
//
// 1) 0 :: Number
//
// 2) "1" :: String
//
// Since there is no type of which all the above values are members, the type-variable constraint has been violated.Combines UnaryType and TypeVariable.
To define a unary type variable t a one must provide:
-
a name (conventionally matching
^[a-z]$); and -
the type of
a.
Consider the type of a generalized map:
map :: Functor f => (a -> b) -> f a -> f bf is a unary type variable. With two (nullary) type variables, one
unary type variable, and one type class it's possible to define a
fully polymorphic map function:
const $ = require ('sanctuary-def');
const Z = require ('sanctuary-type-classes');
const a = $.TypeVariable ('a');
const b = $.TypeVariable ('b');
const f = $.UnaryTypeVariable ('f');
// map :: Functor f => (a -> b) -> f a -> f b
const map =
def ('map')
({f: [Z.Functor]})
([$.Function ([a, b]), f (a), f (b)])
(f => functor => Z.map (f, functor));Whereas a regular type variable is fully resolved (a might become
Array (Array String), for example), a unary type variable defers to
its type argument, which may itself be a type variable. The type argument
corresponds to the type argument of a unary type or the second type
argument of a binary type. The second type argument of Map k v, for
example, is v. One could replace Functor => f with Map k or with
Map Integer, but not with Map.
This shallow inspection makes it possible to constrain a value's "outer" and "inner" types independently.
Combines BinaryType and TypeVariable.
To define a binary type variable t a b one must provide:
-
a name (conventionally matching
^[a-z]$); -
the type of
a; and -
the type of
b.
The more detailed explanation of UnaryTypeVariable also applies to
BinaryTypeVariable.
$.Thunk (T) is shorthand for $.Function ([T]), the type comprising
every nullary function (thunk) that returns a value of type T.
$.Predicate (T) is shorthand for $.Fn (T) ($.Boolean), the type
comprising every predicate function that takes a value of type T.
One can trivially define a function of type String -> String -> String
that concatenates two strings. This is overly restrictive, though, since
other types support concatenation (Array a, for example).
One could use a type variable to define a polymorphic "concat" function:
// _concat :: a -> a -> a
const _concat =
def ('_concat')
({})
([a, a, a])
(x => y => x.concat (y));
_concat ('fizz') ('buzz');
// => 'fizzbuzz'
_concat ([1, 2]) ([3, 4]);
// => [1, 2, 3, 4]
_concat ([1, 2]) ('buzz');
// ! TypeError: Type-variable constraint violation
//
// _concat :: a -> a -> a
// ^ ^
// 1 2
//
// 1) [1, 2] :: Array Number
//
// 2) "buzz" :: String
//
// Since there is no type of which all the above values are members, the type-variable constraint has been violated.The type of _concat is misleading: it suggests that it can operate on
any two values of any one type. In fact there's an implicit constraint,
since the type must support concatenation (in mathematical
terms, the type must have a semigroup). Violating this
implicit constraint results in a run-time error in the implementation:
_concat (null) (null);
// ! TypeError: Cannot read property 'concat' of nullThe solution is to constrain a by first defining a TypeClass
value, then specifying the constraint in the definition of the "concat"
function:
const Z = require ('sanctuary-type-classes');
// Semigroup :: TypeClass
const Semigroup = Z.TypeClass (
'my-package/Semigroup',
'http://example.com/my-package#Semigroup',
[],
x => x != null && typeof x.concat === 'function'
);
// concat :: Semigroup a => a -> a -> a
const concat =
def ('concat')
({a: [Semigroup]})
([a, a, a])
(x => y => x.concat (y));
concat ([1, 2]) ([3, 4]);
// => [1, 2, 3, 4]
concat (null) (null);
// ! TypeError: Type-class constraint violation
//
// concat :: Semigroup a => a -> a -> a
// ^^^^^^^^^^^ ^
// 1
//
// 1) null :: Null
//
// ‘concat’ requires ‘a’ to satisfy the Semigroup type-class constraint; the value at position 1 does not.
//
// See http://example.com/my-package#Semigroup for information about the my-package/Semigroup type class.Multiple constraints may be placed on a type variable by including
multiple TypeClass values in the array (e.g. {a: [Foo, Bar, Baz]}).