Lambda the Ultimate

Type-checking Modular Multiple Dispatch with Parametric Polymorphism and Multiple Inheritance. Eric Allen, Justin Hilburn, Scott Kilpatrick, Sukyoung Ryu, David Chase, Victor Luchangco, and Guy L. Steele Jr. Submitted for publication, December 2010.

Multiple dynamic dispatch poses many problems for a statically typed language with nominal subtyping and multiple inheritance. In particular, there is a tension between modularity and extensibility when trying to ensure at compile time that each function call dispatches to a unique most specific definition at run time. We have previously shown how requiring that each set of overloaded definitions forms a meet semi-lattice allows one to statically ensure the absence of ambiguous calls while maintaining modularity and extensibility.

In this paper, we extend the rules for ensuring safe overloaded functions to a type system with parametric polymorphism. We show that such an extension can be reduced to the problem of determining subtyping relationships between universal and existential types. We also ensure that syntactically distinct types inhabited by the same sets of values are equivalent under subtyping. Our system has been implemented as part of the open source Fortress compiler.

So it's Sunday, and I'm researching the interaction of multiple dispatch, type-checking, and parametric polymorphism, when Google spits out this new paper by the Fortress team.

Scott Kilpatrick's Master's Thesis Ad Hoc: Overloading and Language Design puts it into perspective:

The intricate concepts of ad-hoc polymorphism and overloading permeate the field of programming languages despite their somewhat nebulous definitions. With the perspective afforded by the state of the art, object-oriented Fortress programming language, this thesis presents a contemporary account of ad-hoc polymorphism and overloading in theory and in practice. Common language constructs are reinterpreted with a new emphasis on overloading as a key facility.

Furthermore, concrete problems with overloading in Fortress, encountered during the author's experience in the development of the language, are presented with an emphasis on the ad hoc nature of their solutions.

All of this is a bit over my head, unfortunately, but I find it very interesting nevertheless. And it's heartening that the somewhat neglected multiple dispatch (and multiple inheritance!) is further developed by such a high caliber team.