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In computer science and logic, a dependent type is a type whose definition depends on a value. It is an overlapping feature of type theory and type systems. In intuitionistic type theory, dependent types are used to encode logic's quantifiers like "for all" and "there exists". In functional programming languages like Agda, ATS, Coq, F*, Epigram, Idris, and Lean, dependent types help reduce bugs by enabling the programmer to assign types that further restrain the set of possible implementations.

Two common examples of dependent types are dependent functions and dependent pairs. The return type of a dependent function may depend on the value (not just type) of one of its arguments. For instance, a function that takes a positive integer may return an array of length , where the array length is part of the type of the array. (Note that this is different from polymorphism and generic programming, both of which include the type as an argument.) A dependent pair may have a second value, the type of which depends on the first value. Sticking with the array example, a dependent pair may be used to pair an array with its length in a type-safe way.

Dependent types add complexity to a type system. Deciding the equality of dependent types in a program may require computations. If arbitrary values are allowed in dependent types, then deciding type equality may involve deciding whether two arbitrary programs produce the same result; hence the decidability of type checking may depend on the given type theory's semantics of equality, that is, whether the type theory is intensional or extensional.[1]

History

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In 1934, Haskell Curry noticed that the types used in typed lambda calculus, and in its combinatory logic counterpart, followed the same pattern as axioms in propositional logic. Going further, for every proof in the logic, there was a matching function (term) in the programming language. One of Curry's examples was the correspondence between simply typed lambda calculus and intuitionistic logic.[2]

Predicate logic is an extension of propositional logic, adding quantifiers. Howard and de Bruijn extended lambda calculus to match this more powerful logic by creating types for dependent functions, which correspond to "for all", and dependent pairs, which correspond to "there exists".[3]

Because of this, and other work by Howard, propositions-as-types is known as the Curry–Howard correspondence.

Formal definition

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Loosely speaking, dependent types are similar to the type of an indexed family of sets. More formally, given a type   in a universe of types  , one may have a family of types  , which assigns to each term   a type  . We say that the type   varies with  .

Π type

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A function whose type of return value varies with its argument (i.e. there is no fixed codomain) is a dependent function and the type of this function is called dependent product type, pi-type (Π type) or dependent function type.[4] From a family of types   we may construct the type of dependent functions  , whose terms are functions that take a term   and return a term in  . For this example, the dependent function type is typically written as   or  .

If   is a constant function, the corresponding dependent product type is equivalent to an ordinary function type. That is,   is judgmentally equal to   when   does not depend on  .

The name 'Π-type' comes from the idea that these may be viewed as a Cartesian product of types. Π-types can also be understood as models of universal quantifiers.

For example, if we write   for n-tuples of real numbers, then   would be the type of a function which, given a natural number n, returns a tuple of real numbers of size n. The usual function space arises as a special case when the range type does not actually depend on the input. E.g.   is the type of functions from natural numbers to the real numbers, which is written as   in typed lambda calculus.

For a more concrete example, taking   to be the type of unsigned integers from 0 to 255 (the ones that fit into 8 bits or 1 byte) and   for  , then   devolves into the product of  .

Σ type

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The dual of the dependent product type is the dependent pair type, dependent sum type, sigma-type, or (confusingly) dependent product type.[4] Sigma-types can also be understood as existential quantifiers. Continuing the above example, if, in the universe of types  , there is a type   and a family of types  , then there is a dependent pair type  . (The alternative notations are similar to that of Π types.)

The dependent pair type captures the idea of an ordered pair where the type of the second term is dependent on the value of the first. If   then   and  . If   is a constant function, then the dependent pair type becomes (is judgementally equal to) the product type, that is, an ordinary Cartesian product  .[4]

For a more concrete example, taking   to again be type of unsigned integers from 0 to 255, and   to again be equal to   for 256 more arbitrary  , then   devolves into the sum  .

Example as existential quantification

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Let   be some type, and let  . By the Curry–Howard correspondence,   can be interpreted as a logical predicate on terms of  . For a given  , whether the type   is inhabited indicates whether   satisfies this predicate. The correspondence can be extended to existential quantification and dependent pairs: the proposition   is true if and only if the type   is inhabited.

For example,   is less than or equal to   if and only if there exists another natural number   such that  . In logic, this statement is codified by existential quantification:

 

This proposition corresponds to the dependent pair type:

 

That is, a proof of the statement that   is less than or equal to   is a pair that contains both a non-negative number  , which is the difference between   and  , and a proof of the equality  .

Systems of the lambda cube

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Henk Barendregt developed the lambda cube as a means of classifying type systems along three axes. The eight corners of the resulting cube-shaped diagram each correspond to a type system, with simply typed lambda calculus in the least expressive corner, and calculus of constructions in the most expressive. The three axes of the cube correspond to three different augmentations of the simply typed lambda calculus: the addition of dependent types, the addition of polymorphism, and the addition of higher kinded type constructors (functions from types to types, for example). The lambda cube is generalized further by pure type systems.

First order dependent type theory

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The system   of pure first order dependent types, corresponding to the logical framework LF, is obtained by generalising the function space type of the simply typed lambda calculus to the dependent product type.

Second order dependent type theory

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The system   of second order dependent types is obtained from   by allowing quantification over type constructors. In this theory the dependent product operator subsumes both the   operator of simply typed lambda calculus and the   binder of System F.

Higher order dependently typed polymorphic lambda calculus

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The higher order system   extends   to all four forms of abstraction from the lambda cube: functions from terms to terms, types to types, terms to types and types to terms. The system corresponds to the calculus of constructions whose derivative, the calculus of inductive constructions is the underlying system of the Coq proof assistant.

Simultaneous programming language and logic

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The Curry–Howard correspondence implies that types can be constructed that express arbitrarily complex mathematical properties. If the user can supply a constructive proof that a type is inhabited (i.e., that a value of that type exists) then a compiler can check the proof and convert it into executable computer code that computes the value by carrying out the construction. The proof checking feature makes dependently typed languages closely related to proof assistants. The code-generation aspect provides a powerful approach to formal program verification and proof-carrying code, since the code is derived directly from a mechanically verified mathematical proof.

Comparison of languages with dependent types

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Language Actively developed Paradigm[a] Tactics Proof terms Termination checking Types can depend on[b] Universes Proof irrelevance Program extraction Extraction erases irrelevant terms
Ada 2012 Yes[5] Imperative Yes[6] No ? Any term[c] ? ? Ada ?
Agda Yes[7] Purely functional Few/limited[d] Yes Yes (optional) Any term Yes (optional)[e] Proof-irrelevant arguments[9] Proof-irrelevant propositions[10] Haskell, JavaScript Yes[9]
ATS Yes[11] Functional / imperative No[12] Yes Yes Static terms[13] ? Yes Yes Yes
Cayenne No Purely functional No Yes No Any term No No ? ?
Gallina
(Coq)
Yes[14] Purely functional Yes Yes Yes Any term Yes[f] Yes[15] Haskell, Scheme, OCaml Yes
Dependent ML No[g] ? ? Yes ? Natural numbers ? ? ? ?
F* Yes[16] Functional and imperative Yes[17] Yes Yes (optional) Any pure term Yes Yes OCaml, F#, and C Yes
Guru No[18] Purely functional[19] hypjoin[20] Yes[19] Yes Any term No Yes Carraway Yes
Idris Yes[21] Purely functional[22] Yes[23] Yes Yes (optional) Any term Yes No Yes Yes[23]
Lean Yes Purely functional Yes Yes Yes Any term Yes Yes Yes Yes
Matita Yes[24] Purely functional Yes Yes Yes Any term Yes Yes OCaml Yes
NuPRL Yes Purely functional Yes Yes Yes Any term Yes ? Yes ?
PVS Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Sage Archived 2020-11-09 at the Wayback Machine No[h] Purely functional No No No ? No ? ? ?
SPARK 2014 Yes[25] Imperative Yes[26] Yes[27] Yes[28] Any term[i] ? ? Ada and C[29] Yes[30]
Twelf Yes Logic programming ? Yes Yes (optional) Any (LF) term No No ? ?
  1. ^ This refers to the core language, not to any tactic (theorem proving procedure) or code generation sublanguage.
  2. ^ Subject to semantic constraints, such as universe constraints
  3. ^ Static_Predicate for restricted terms, Dynamic_Predicate for Assert-like checking of any term in type cast
  4. ^ Ring solver[8]
  5. ^ Optional universes, optional universe polymorphism, and optional explicitly specified universes
  6. ^ Universes, automatically inferred universe constraints (not the same as Agda's universe polymorphism) and optional explicit printing of universe constraints
  7. ^ Has been superseded by ATS
  8. ^ Last Sage paper and last code snapshot are both dated 2006
  9. ^ Static_Predicate for restricted terms, Dynamic_Predicate for Assert-like checking of any term in type cast

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hofmann, Martin (1995), Extensional concepts in intensional type theory (PDF)
  2. ^ Sørensen, Morten Heine B.; Urzyczyn, Pawel (1998), Lectures on the Curry-Howard Isomorphism, CiteSeerX 10.1.1.17.7385
  3. ^ Bove, Ana; Dybjer, Peter (2008). Dependent Types at Work (PDF) (Report). Chalmers University of Technology.
  4. ^ a b c Altenkirch, Thorsten; Danielsson, Nils Anders; Löh, Andres; Oury, Nicolas (2010). "ΠΣ: Dependent Types without the Sugar" (PDF). In Blume, Matthias; Kobayashi, Naoki; Vidal, Germán (eds.). Functional and Logic Programming, 10th International Symposium, FLOPS 2010, Sendai, Japan, April 19-21, 2010. Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 6009. Springer. pp. 40–55. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-12251-4_5.
  5. ^ "GNAT Ada installation using ALIRE".
  6. ^ "§3.2.4 Subtype Predicates". Ada Reference Manual (2012 ed.).
  7. ^ "Agda download page".
  8. ^ "Agda Ring Solver".
  9. ^ a b "Announce: Agda 2.2.8". Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
  10. ^ "Agda 2.6.0 changelog".
  11. ^ "ATS2 downloads".
  12. ^ "email from ATS inventor Hongwei Xi".
  13. ^ Xi, Hongwei (March 2017). "Applied Type System: An Approach to Practical Programming with Theorem-Proving" (PDF). arXiv:1703.08683.
  14. ^ "Coq changes in Subversion repository".
  15. ^ "Introduction of SProp in Coq 8.10".
  16. ^ "F* changes on GitHub". GitHub.
  17. ^ "F* v0.9.5.0 release notes on GitHub". GitHub.
  18. ^ "Guru SVN".
  19. ^ a b Aaron Stump (6 April 2009). "Verified Programming in Guru" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  20. ^ Petcher, Adam (May 2008). Deciding Joinability Modulo Ground Equations in Operational Type Theory (PDF) (MSc). Washington University. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  21. ^ "Idris git repository". GitHub. 17 May 2022.
  22. ^ Brady, Edwin. "Idris, a language with dependent types — extended abstract" (PDF). CiteSeerX 10.1.1.150.9442.
  23. ^ a b Brady, Edwin. "How does Idris compare to other dependently-typed programming languages?".
  24. ^ "Matita SVN". Archived from the original on 2006-05-08. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
  25. ^ "SPARK installation using ALIRE".
  26. ^ "§3.2.4 Subtype Predicates". Ada Reference Manual (2012 ed.).
  27. ^ "5.11.6. SPARK Lemma Library". SPARK User's Guide (25.0 ed.).
  28. ^ "5.2.8. Contracts for Termination". SPARK User's Guide (25.0 ed.).
  29. ^ "1.2. Calling and Using CCG". GNAT Pro Common Code Generator Users's Guide Supplement (25.0 ed.).
  30. ^ "Compiling with a non-SPARK Aware Compiler". SPARK User's Guide (25.0 ed.).

Further reading

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