Integration of Typed and Untyped Code in a Scripting Language

Tobias Wrigstad, Francesco Zappa Nardelli, Sylvain Lebresne, Johan Östlund, Jan Vitek.


Many large software systems originate from untyped scripting language code. While good for initial development, this can impact code-quality and performance in the long run. We study a novel approach for integrating untyped and typed code in the same system to allow an initial script to be smoothly evolved into a more efficient and robust system. Our approach adds a novel intermediate point, called like types, between dynamic and static types. Uses of variables of like type are checked statically, while conformance of a value to a like type is checked at run-time individually at each access. In contrast to previous proposals, this approach captures common programmer mistakes, is compatible with object-orientation and can be implemented efficiently. The parts of a program annotated with concrete types enjoy the usual static safety guarantees and can be optimised, while like types improve local safety and integrate smoothly with untyped parts of a program without hindering performance.


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Last update: 3-11-2009