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@ -3,29 +3,30 @@
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> This section isn't specific to xplr. However, since xplr configuration makes
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> heavy use of this particular data type, even though it isn't available in
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> most of the mainstream programming languages (yet), making it a wild or
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> unfamilier concept for many, it's worth doing a quick introduction here.
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> unfamiliar concept for many, it's worth doing a quick introduction here.
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>
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> If you're already familiar with [Sum Type / Tagged Union][1] (e.g. Rust's
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> enum), you can skip ahead.
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While reading this doc, you'll come across some data types like [Layout][2],
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[Color][4], [Message][3] etc. that says something like "x can be any of the
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following", and then you'll see a list of strings and/or lua tables just below.
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[Color][4], [Message][3] etc. that says something like "x is a sum type that
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can be any of the following", and then you'll see a list of strings and/or lua
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tables just below.
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Yes, they are actually sum types, i.e. they can be any of the finite set of
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values listed there.
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Yes, they are actually sum types, i.e. they can be any of the given set of
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tagged variants listed there.
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Note the word "finite". Many conventional programming languages have only two
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kinds of data types with finite set of values:
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Notice the word "be". Unlike classes or structs (aka product types), they don't
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"have" values, they "are" (i.e. "be") the value, or rather, one of the possible
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set of values.
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- `null` - aka "unit type", can be only one thing - i.e. `null`.
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- `bool` - can be one of the two possible values - `true` or `false`.
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Also notice the word "tagged". Unlike the single variant `null`, or the dual
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variant `boolean` types, the variants of sum types are tagged (i.e. named), and
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may further have, or be, value or values of any data type.
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Other types like `integer`, `float`, `string` etc. can have infinite number of
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possible values (ideally).
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Many popular programming languages come with the concept of `enum`, which lets
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us define a type with finite set of possible values like:
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A simple example of a sum type is an enum. Many programming languages have
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them, but only a few modern programming languages allow nesting other types
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into a sum type.
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```rust
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enum Result {
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@ -34,7 +35,8 @@ enum Result {
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}
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```
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Here, `Result` has only two possible values (just like `bool`): `Ok` and `Err`.
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Here, `Result` can be one of two the possible values: "Ok" and "Err" (just like
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`boolean`, but tagged):
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We'd document it here as:
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@ -61,7 +63,7 @@ We'd document it here as:
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> - { Err = "string" }
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Here, `Result` still has only two possibilities, but unlike bool, each
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possibility here has further finite or infinite set of possible values.
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possibility here is tagged, and has further set of possible value(s).
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And there you go. This is exactly what sum types are - glorified enums that can
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have nested types in each branch.
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