A Formal Description Of A Type Checking Algorithm

Majid Naeem, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Chris Harrison, School of Informatics, Manchester University, UK

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Abstract

In type system theory, a program variable can assume a range of values during the execution of a program. In a statically typed language, every expression of the language is assigned a type at compile time. There are many advantages to having a statically type-checked language including provision of earlier information on programming errors, documenting component interfaces, eliminating the need for run-time type checks, and providing extra information that can be used in compiler optimization. In this paper a formal description of a static type checker is presented and used to construct a static type for each expression in an object-oriented language called POOL.

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About the authors

		Majid Naeem is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at University of Central Punjab Pakistan. E-Mail: majid.naeem@ucp.edu.pk
		Chris Harrison is a lecturer in the School of Informatics at Manchester University. E-Mail: cjharrison@manchester.ac.uk

Cite this article as follows: M. Naeem and Ch. Harrison: “A Formal Description of a Type Checking Algorithm”, in Journal of Object Technology, vol. 4, no. 9, November-December 2005, pp. 93-100 http://www.jot.fm/issues/issue_2005_11/article2