The automatic deduction of the type of an expression by a compiler or interpreter from context, letting a programmer omit explicit type annotations in a statically typed language while the compiler still checks the program's types.
Facts
Partially Attested
Origin YearMilner's 1978 paper gave Algorithm W independently of Hindley's 1969 work; the underlying type inference algorithm for the simply typed lambda calculus traces earlier to Curry and Feys in 1958, so 1978 marks Milner's independent contribution rather than the concept's first appearance. Core PrincipleType inference, sometimes called type reconstruction, is the automatic detection of the type of an expression, letting a compiler or interpreter deduce types from context. 1 Connections
In Field
Invented
Robin Milner developed the type inference algorithm underlying the Hindley-Milner type system, published in his 1978 paper A Theory of Type Polymorphism in Programming.
Sources
1. Type inference - Wikipedia
Hindley-Milner section
In 1978 Robin Milner, independently of Hindley's work, provided an equivalent algorithm, Algorithm W.
Lead section, opening sentence
Type inference (sometimes called type reconstruction) is the automatic detection of the type of an expression.
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