Kind: Difference between revisions
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''' | [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kind_%28type_theory%29 Wikipedia] says, "In type theory, a '''kind''' is the type of a type constructor or, less commonly, the type of a higher-order type operator. A kind system is essentially a simply typed lambda calculus 'one level up,' endowed with a primitive type, denoted * and called 'type,' which is the kind of any (monomorphic) data type." | ||
Ordinary types have kind <TT>*</TT>. Type constructors have kind <TT>P -> Q</TT>, where <TT>P</TT> and <TT>Q</TT> are kinds. For instance: | Ordinary types have kind <TT>*</TT>. Type constructors have kind <TT>P -> Q</TT>, where <TT>P</TT> and <TT>Q</TT> are kinds. For instance: | ||
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* [[GHC/Kinds]] | * [[GHC/Kinds]] | ||
* [http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/IntermediateTypes#KindsareTypes Kinds ?, ??, # and (#)] | * [http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/IntermediateTypes#KindsareTypes Kinds ?, ??, # and (#)] | ||
* [[Books#Foundations|Pierce, Benjamin. ''Types and Programming Languages'']]. | |||
[[Category:Language]] | [[Category:Language]] | ||
Revision as of 19:44, 26 August 2012
Wikipedia says, "In type theory, a kind is the type of a type constructor or, less commonly, the type of a higher-order type operator. A kind system is essentially a simply typed lambda calculus 'one level up,' endowed with a primitive type, denoted * and called 'type,' which is the kind of any (monomorphic) data type."
Ordinary types have kind *. Type constructors have kind P -> Q, where P and Q are kinds. For instance:
Int :: * Maybe :: * -> * Maybe Bool :: * a -> a :: * [] :: * -> * (->) :: * -> * -> *
In Haskell 98, * is the only inhabited kind, that is, all values have types of kind *. GHC introduces another inhabited kind, #, for unboxed types.