Does APL Need a Type System? by Aaron W Hsu at #FnConf18

Why HN readers recommended it

HN points to it as the main argument from the array-language camp that types are unnecessary there, and as a nuanced take on typed versus untyped programming.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

ConfEngine

Topic

array programming and type systems

Format

talk

Level

advanced

HN recommenders in dataset

3

HN mentions in dataset

7

Recommendation years in dataset

2019–2025

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• Qualification: I was introduced to FP a number of years ago and have finally reached a point where I feel that I have a deep understanding of FP in general. In my mind, Haskell is the "best" language out there ("best" in that it provides …

• Just starting to learn J, myself, and this brings to mind Aaron Hsu's "Does APL Need A Type System?" talk: [VIDEO] which argues that APL already provides the development ergonomics that are typically acribed to type systems. I.e. why type check your tacit function when …

• The right tool for the job. If you are building a huge website with input forms, videos, data collection, ML algorithms, yes then you wouldn't do the whole thing in APL or J even if you could. Python is big in ML because packages for …