[bogomipz]

What a great piece!

I wish the author would expand on this piece with either more installments or a even short book.

I find myself interested in type systems as it relates to programming language design but I haven't found much middle ground between the basic types described in introductory texts about a language and the opposite extreme heavy academic texts such as the ones the author is breaking down in this article.

Can anyone recommend any other such middle ground resources on type systems and type system theory?

[OJFord]

> Can anyone recommend any other such middle ground resources on type systems and type system theory?

I really enjoyed Pierce's Types and Programming Languages. As I recall, he starts with the simple untyped lambda calculus, and builds a motivation for a type system, as well as the type system itself. It then switches to ML (or perhaps OCaml) and shows how features can be built-in to a type system as they're described.

I think it's a good fit - I know you said not heavy academic texts, but I don't think it's too heavy, it's at the level of an introductory undergraduate course. (Beware Advanced Topics in ~ by the same author which probably is on the heavier end, I don't know, I haven't braved it yet!)

[naasking]

What do you consider basic? Algorithm W for ML type inference is pretty basic, but powerful too. Or are you looking for something even more expressive?

[bogomipz]

What I meant by basic was the description of types provided by a language - usually in an introductory text you might read when learning a new language. I probably didn't articulate that correctly.

But I guess what I was referring to as a "middle ground"qa any resources for learning about types systems written in a similar approachable tone like this article.

This was another article I read recently that I thought was similarly accessible on the subject of types systems:

https://medium.com/@thejameskyle/type-systems-structural-vs-...

So I guess I'm wondering if there exists such a book or series that might allow one to further their knowledge of type systems without requiring university study.

[naasking]

Types and Programming Languages is the go to book, and it's very accessible despite being a textbook:

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/types-and-programming-languag...

You can find some earlier PDF drafts online if you Google.

[alexashka]

I have the book and I must warn people, it is not THAT accessible - this is not evening reading for an hour, this is work.

[naasking]

You'll have to define accessible then. Learning anything takes work.

[catshirt]

funny to me, that HN brings up "Godel, Escher, Bach" in the most general of situations but not when someone's specifically asking for it. enjoy! :)