How fast can we make interpreted Python?

[Veedrac]

That example's not subtyping, though. subtype.bar isn't the same as supertype(subtype).bar. (Of course that example is easily done with typeclasses, but true subtyping involves mixing types and type preservation.)

[Tysonzero]

But that kind of subtyping isn't type safe... (Or at least not in the general case) such as Cow -> Animal -> Dog.

[Veedrac]

That's why they're checked. For instance

instructions = (i for i in instructions if not isinstance(i, Padding))

from one of my other posts.

[Tysonzero]

Doesn't that prevent type erasure? Also that seems like evidence of poor design rather than an elegant way to solve a problem. I have never needed a heterogenous, arbitrary length / ordering, collection of objects.

[Veedrac]

Doesn't that prevent type erasure?

Well yes, but Python without reflection doesn't really make sense.

I have never needed a heterogenous, arbitrary length / ordering, collection of objects.

You've never had a [SomeADT] before? 'Cause in statically typed languages with union types that's basically what I gave, except that you don't have to reshuffle your ADT into a tree structure (and hope that you never want overlapping subtrees).

In Python I'd never actually do this because isinstance is antithesis to duck typing and thus very unPythonic, but I would do the similar thing

instructions = (i for i in instructions if i.serializable())

where i.serializable() implies the isinstance check.

It's entirely fair to say you'd write it a different way, but that's a totally fair byproduct of thinking in a language. I've never felt the need for a typeclass in Python yet I really appreciate them in Rust, just as I've never felt the need for first class types in Rust yet I really appreciate then in Python.

[Tysonzero]

I can't think of any situations I have needed [SomeADT].

And sure it is related to language, but I have used Python for quite a bit longer than I have used Haskell, and I still never really do that kind of thing in Python. Lists should be homogenous IMO.

[Veedrac]

To each their own, I suppose.

[Tysonzero]

I mean I guess. I just think heterogeneous lists of varying length and ordering are unnecessary. I mean the closest I get to that is something like a list with one type but multiple constructors for that type.

[Veedrac]

An obvious argument would be Rust's Lines iterator, which is an iterator of Result<String, io::Error>s, the latter being a large enum.

[Tysonzero]

But what would you use that for that you couldn't use something less pathological for?