Add a type type

[Denneisk]

Description: A new type xt that contains an E2 type. For example,

TypeVar = number # or typeof(1)
NumVar = 100
print(TypeVar, typeof(NumVar), TypeVar == typeof(NumVar)) # prints "number, number, 1"

This would be more than just a string, and could be used in places where types are currently statically defined. Both of these functions now replace what would have taken a switch statement over every considerable type.

function printTableElement(Index:string) {
  Types = Table:types()  # or Table:typeids() that would require manual conversion from strings to types
  print(Table[Index, Types[Index, type]]) # Alternatively one could consider a Table:typeof(Index) function
}

function varArgsFunction(...Args:table) {
  Types = Args:typesArray()
  foreach(I:number, V:type = Types) {
    print(Args[I, V])
  }
}

For the most part this would be rather underwhelming, but it shines in interaction with tables. This would greatly simplify users ability of accessing and creating array/table elements of a type defined at runtime. The purpose of having it as a completely separate type is so that it avoids the following situation

String = "Some random string"
Table[1, String] # Type error will mask the user's syntax error

[Vurv78]

No, this just doesn't make any sense..

The only language where this kind of exists is Zig, but that works because types can only exist as separate compile-time variables

If you want dynamic typing we could always just go through with the initial idea of making Table[1] valid but returning an unknown type (which you'd cast to whatever with as <type>)

[Vurv78]

Additionally this just wouldn't work, maybe it would for print since it takes a vararg, which means it can accept any type, but you wouldn't know what type you're getting from it at compile time.. which brings you back to just making X[1] work and return unknown

[yogwoggf]

💀

[Vurv78]

I'm going to close this. You or someone else can feel free to make another issue to add an unknown type, and a type casting system.