TYPE INFERENCE AND LATE BINDING
A type inference option is available for a computer programming language. The option acts as a switch to specify whether or not type inference is applicable (e.g., on or off). Type inference can be employed in conjunction with late binding or options therefor. In this manner, a computer program can be developed with the convenience of type inference and the flexibility of late binding while still maintaining at a degree of type safety.
1 . A program compilation system, comprising:
an identifier component that identifies compiler options including an inference option associated with a computer program; and
an inference component that infers types as a function of the inference option.
2 . The system of claim 1 , the inference option is associated with a project and/or file.
3 . The system of claim 1 , the inference option identifies one or more applicable syntactic and/or semantic constructs on which the option applies.
4 . The system of claim 3 , the syntactic and/or semantic constructs are local variables, fields, or properties, result types and/or method parameters.
5 . The system of claim 1 , the inference option identifies one or more syntactic and/or semantic constructs on which the option is does not apply.
6 . The system of claim 1 , the identifier component identifies a binding option.
7 . The system of claim 6 , further comprising a binding component that binds types to objects in accordance with the binding option.
8 . The system of claim 7 , the inference option and binding option are dependent upon one another.
9 . The system of claim 7 , the binding component performs late binding when a language root type or special static type is explicitly specified.
10 . The system of claim 1 , the options are specified in a compiler command line statement.
11 . A method of program translation, comprising:
identifying inference and binding options for a program;
inferring types for programmatic constructs that omit a type if the inference option is on; and
delaying binding of types to objects until runtime for programmatic constructs annotated with a root type if the binding option is on.
12 . The method of claim 11 , identifying the options from within the program and/or at compiler command line.
13 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising producing an error if a type is omitted for a programmatic construct and the inference option is off.
14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising inferring types for a local variable, field or property, return value and/or a method parameter.
15 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising binding types to objects at compile time if the binding option is off.
16 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising identifying the inference option as a function of the binding option or identifying the binding option as a function of the inference option.
17 . A computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer program comprising:
a plurality of computer programming code; and
an option statement within the code that indicates whether or not type inference is to be performed with respect to the code.
18 . The computer readable medium of claim 17 , the option statement identifies syntactic constructs on which type inference is on or off.
19 . The computer readable medium of claim 18 , the option statement identifies local variables, fields, or properties, return types and/or method parameters.
20 . The computer readable medium of claim 17 , further comprising an option statement identifies whether or not late binding is applicable.