alabamenhu · January 9, 2022 04:29 · alabamenhu · Jul 15, 2020 · codesections · Jul 15, 2020
diff --git a/Strongly Typed Raku (pod6).txt b/Strongly Typed Raku (pod6).txt
 =begin pod

 Raku is a gradual typed language, allowing you to completely ignore typing for quick mock ups,
 or enforce very strict typing to ensure reliability in critical programs.  This is a guide for
 certain issues that can come up when writing strongly typed Raku code.



 =head1 Basic typing

 By default, Raku doesn't care what you store in variables.

    my $foo;
    $foo = 1;
    $foo = "one";
    $foo = { * + 1 };

 In a perfect world, we would always remember exactly what is being passed where
 and make no mistakes whatsoever.  But sometimes as programmers we can screw up:
 
    my $number;
    $number = "one";
    say $number + 2;
    
 In this case, it's quite easy to ensure that C<$number> always contains something
 numeric.  Compare the results of the following two lines.

    my Numeric $number;
    $number = 1;       # ✓
    $number = 1.11;    # ✓
    $number = 1 / 10;  # ✓
    $number = "one";   # error
    
 The type of a variable can be set as either a class or a role.  In Raku, classes 
 and roles function fairly independently of each other thanks to mixins, so don't
 worry too much about whether you're using a class or a role: just ensure it locks
 values into what you want.  For numbers, note the difference:

    # Classes 
    my Int     $a;  # only accepts 1, 2, 3, etc.
    my Rat     $b;  # only accepts 1/1, 2/1, 3/1, etc.
    my Num     $c;  # only accepts 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc.
    
    # Roles 
    my Numeric $d;  # accepts an Int, Rat, or Num
    
 Be advised that a subclass will always be considered valid value for its parent's
 class, so if you ask for C<ParentClass>, you might also get C<ChildClass> unless
 you specifically disallow it (which can be done using subsets, see below).

 All typing information can I<also> be included on signatures:

    sub foo (Num $float, Int $integer, Numeric $any-number) { … }

 One extra feature of signatures currently not elsewhere is the ability to autocoerce.
 The two blocks are functionally equivalent:

    sub foo (Str() $text) { … }
    sub foo (Str $text) {
      $text = $text.Str unless $text ~~ Str
      …
    }
    
 This could works fine (ignoring that $text isn't r/w here) and will fail if the variable
 passed cannot coerce itself into Str.  Autocoercion is great in situations like logging
 functions that will ultimately use the string value anyway.  Be very judicious with it, 
 however, because many objects may have unexpected or undesirable coercions (C<Array> 
 coerces to numbers with the number of elements, so doing math on it with that value other
 than to calculate offsets or loops likely represents an error.

 =head2 Summary

 Whenever you declare any variable, always ensure that you have the type that
 best fits the variable.  (Double and triple ask yourself if autocoercion is useful,
 when in doubt, have calling code coerce manually).

    
    
 =head1 Defined vs Types

 Generally, it's okay for most variables to go undefined and still be passed around.
 There are several subtle ways that undefined variables can accidentally come up 
 and not cause problems until sometime later.  For instance, consider this code:

    sub add(Int $a, Int $b) { 
       ...
       $a + $b
    }
    
    my Int @array = 1, 2, 3;
    my Int $value = @array[3];  # oops, we forgot Raku is 0-based.
    
    ...
    
    foo $a, $b;
    
 The code will error, but it will error at the end of C<foo()>, even though the 
 mistakes happened far earlier.  This can make debugging more difficult.  One
 possibility could be to say:

    sub add(Int $a, Int $b) {
      die unless $a.defined;
      die unless $b.defined;
      ...
      $a + $b
    }

 That's an improvement: even though we don't need to use $a in a defined way,
 we'll catch it at the very beginning.  But we can keep it in the sub's 
 signature:

    sub foo(Int $a where *.defined, Int $b where *.defined) { … }
    
 By putting it in the signature, the error can be caught as soon as the
 sub is called.  Using `where *.defined` is a bit line-noise-y, so there's
 a syntactical shortcut for it:

    sub foo(Int:D $a, Int:D $b) { … }
    
 The C<:D> constraint doesn't actually have to have a type defined (although
 we're talking about strictly typing here so let's avoid that, mmkay?), in 
 which case it's implied to be C<Any:D>

    sub add(:D $a, :D $b) { … }
    
 Sometimes, instead of desiring a defined object, you might want to
 explicitly work with undefined variables.  This is useful when 
 you want to pass types as types (for example, in parameterization).
 Undefinedness can be enforced simply with the C<:U> constraint. 

    sub foo(:U $a)
    
 =head2 Summary

 For strongly typed Raku, you should always ensure that every parameter
 in a signature has a definedness constraint.  Here's the interpretations

    Any:D  $defined-only 
    Any:U  $undefined-only 
    Any:_  $either-DANGER 
    Any    $also-either-DANGER 

 =head1 Subsets and Constraints

 When you want to restrict the values, rather than the type, you'll want to use a subset.
 For instance, dividing a number can be done by anything but zero, so let's imagine a
 C<divide> function that takes two numbers and returns the result:

    sub divide(Numeric $dividend, Numeric $divisor) {
      die "Division by zero is impossible" if $divisor == 0;
      …
      return $quotient;
    }

 There are better ways to handle this.  One way is to explicitly state the limitations:

    sub divide(Numeric $dividend, Numeric $divisor where * != 0)
    
 This is great for single ad-hoc constraints.  But let's consider a function that wants
 a CSS color value as a string.

    sub pretty(Str $color where /<[0..9a..fA..F]> ** 6/) { … }
    
 The problem here is two fold: (1) color is something we'll probably use over and over
 again and we'd have to keep rewriting the constraint and (2) a CSS color is more than
 just six hexadecimal digits.  It could also be three hex digits, or a name, or use an 
 explicit color type format like C<rgba(123,45,67,.89)>.  What can be done instead is 
 create a CSSColor subset which is a Str by type, but whose values are limited to those
 that are valid in CSS:

    subset CSSColor of Str where {
      || $_ ~~ /<[0..9a..fA..F> ** 6/
      || $_ ~~ /<[0..9a..fA..F> ** 3/
      || $_ ∈ <red green blue yellow>
      || …
    }

    sub pretty(CSSColor $color) { … }
    
 Now in the sub we can safely print out $color being assured it is a valid CSS, as well
 use it in any other sub.  If CSS changes its definition of colors, we can modify just
 the subset and it will apply to every instance.

 Subsets don't have to work on just the values.  For instance, imagine I want a sub 
 to accept objects that are I<both> Positional I<and> Associative?  I can't include
 that in the type information itself — only via where clauses:

    sub double-duty($foo where Positional & Associative) { … }
    
 But with a subset, I can:

    subset TwoWays where Positional & Associative;
    sub double-duty(TwoWays $foo) { … }
    
 You can make very complex subsets:

    subset Overkill where $_     ~~ Positional 
                       && .[0]   == 0
                       && .[3]   == 3
                       && .all   ~~ Int
                       && .elems  < 10;
                       
    my Overkill $a = (0,1,2,3,4);   # perfect
    my Overkill $b = (1,1,2,3,4);   # error: first element must be 0
    my Overkill $c = (0..10).List;  # error: more than ten elements
    
 A really cool thing about subsets is that, written in a particular way, you can give
 some very useful error messages.  

    subset Overkill where ($_     ~~ Positional   || die "Must give a Positional value")
                       && (.[0]   == 0            || die "The first element must be zero")
                       && (.[3]   == 3            || die "The third element must be 3, but it was ", .[3])
                       && (.all   ~~ Int          || die "All elements must be Ints")
                       && (.elems  < 10           || die "Must have less than 10 elements but found ", .elems);
                       
    my Overkill $a = (0,1,2,2,4);   # die output: "The third element must be 3, but it was 2"
    my Overkill $b = (1,1,2,3,4);   # die output: "The first element must be zero"
    my Overkill $c = (0..10).List;  # die output: "Must have less than 10 elements but found 11"
    
 Usually die is what you want, but you can also create specific exception types and throw them
 instead if you intended to use C<CATCH> blocks regularly.

 =head2 Summary

 Define a subset by using a where clause followed a single value (will be smartmatched) or one  
 or more operations.  

   subset 8bit            where 0..255                  # ranges' smart match checks values 
   subset SmallOrBig      where (0..10) | (100..1000)   # junctions are allowed
   subset UnderTen        where * < 10                  # whatevers are valid (only use one)
   subset UnderTenEven    where $_ < 10 &&              # have to use topic variable
                             && $_ % 2                  #    to reference value more than once
   subset ThreeItems      where .elems == 3             # since it's topicalized, you can use .method 
                                                        #    without the $_ reference.
   
 Use a subset for whenever there are bad values or complicated restrictions for a type.
 You can also use them for complicated types (that mix two or more).  Subsets are fairly 
 fundamental to both strongly typed and safe Raku coding. 


 =head1 Arrays and Hashes

 Arrays and hashes present some problems when trying to strongly type because of the way that
 parameterization can be defined.   Consider an array:

    my @integers = 1,2,3,'4';
    
 This assignment is considered valid, but clearly contains a C<Str> that we don't want to
 allow.  Positional objects stored with a C<@> sigil can be quickly typed by simply placing
 the type in front (remember that the C<@> sigil I<implies> the Positional type).

    my Int @integers = …

 And now it would catch accidentally putting in a Str.  This is fairly straightforward.  But
 what if you want to have an array of arrays?  The basic type definition is

    my Array @arrays

 But we can't say C<my Int Array @arrays>, because the C<Array> isn't defined in a C<@> sigil,
 but we can use another format (which also works for C<$>-sigiled positionals):

    my Array[Int]        @arrays;
    my Array[Array[Int]] $arrays-in-scalar;
    
 Strongly typed Raku is very strict: the above arrays require extra work to work with:

    my Array[Int] @arrays;
    @arrays[0] = 1, 2, 3;                  # error! 1,2,3 is List[Any]
    @arrays[0] = Array[Int].new(1,2,3);    # correct
    @arrays    = (1,2,3), (4,5,6), (7,8,9) # each value is a List[Any]
    @arrays    = Array[Int].new(1,2,3),
                 Array[Int].new(4,5,6),
                 Array[Int].new(7,8,9);    # correct, each value is an Array[Int]
    
 Note the use of the C<Class[Type]> in the object constructor to enforce the correct
 object type.

 The same principle exists for Associatives like Hashes or Maps.  You can almost think of
 Positionals as hashes whose keys are integers.  By default, the key of Associatives 
 are C<Str>, and the values are defeined similar to Positional value types:

    my Int %integer-values = …
    
 Sometimes, however, you may want to use a key type other than Str, for instance, 
 if you are creating a mapping between various objects.  There is a special syntax
 that uses curly braces to do this:

    my Int %foo{Any} = …
    
 This enables any kind of object to be used as a key.  You don't actually need
 the value to be defined to constrain the key, so to allow for any value, but
 requiring integer keys, you can say:

    my %any-value{Int}

 For an Associative with keys
 restricted to things like C<Rat> with values that are strings, you could say:

    my Str %foo{Rat} = 1/2 => 'one half', 1 => 'one', 3/2 => 'one and a half';
    
 Just like with positionals, it is possible to define type constraints along
 with the main class when using a scalar value:

    my Map[Str,Rat] = …
    
 In this format, note the order of the values C<Associative[Value,Key]>.  If 
 you want to only define the key with this format, you will need to explicitly
 use the value type C<Any>.

 =head2 Summary

 Here's a quick review of the different ways to define type/value relationships:

    Positionals (remember, the @sigil implies Positional, NOT Array or List)
    #######################################
    my Str              @array;           # a Positional containing Str values
    my List[Int]        $array-in-scalar; # a List containing Int values, stored in a scalar
    my Array[Rat]       @array;           # a Positional containing Arrays that contain Rat values
    my Array[List[Str]] @array;           # a Positional containing Arrays that contain Lists that contain Str values

    Associatives (remember, the %sigil implies Associative, NOT Hash or Map, and defaults to Str keys)
    #######################################
    my Rat              %hash;            # an Associative containing Rat values with Str keys
    my Rat              %hash{Int};       # an Associative containing Rat values with Int keys
    my                  %hash{Int};       # an Associative containing Rat values with Any keys
    my Hash[Rat]        $hash-in-scalar;  # a Hash containing Str keys and Rat values, stored in a scalar
    my Hash[Rat,Int]    $hash-in-scalar;  # a Hash containing Num keys and Rat values, stored in a scalar
    my Hash[Any,Int]    $hash-in-scalar;  # a Hash containing Num keys and Any values, stored in a scalar

 While you can go crazy and define a value like `my Hash[Array[Map[Callable]],Str] %hash{str}`, 
 it's really overkill.  If the structure is know in advance, you are almost I<always> in such 
 case better off to make small objects.  In particular, hash access is slower than attribute access, 
 can help with code completion in IDEs, and very importantly, will error when accessing non-existent
 attributes (both Hashes and Arrays will return type objects which might not error immediately, see 
 Definedness and Types above).


 =head1 Other Parameterization

 To create your own parameterization, define your role with extra brackets

    role Positional[::Value]   { … }
    
 It is possible to parameterize classes, but it is also a bit more difficult because it
 involves making a special inner-role and is currently Rakudo-specific (at the moment 
 not a problem, as Rakudo is the only Raku compiler).  For more information, see
 L<this SO post|https://stackoverflow.com/questions/57554660>.

    class DescriptiveName { 
        my role R[::T] {
            has T $.value; # our parameterized value
            
            # All "actual" methods will go begin here…
            method new(Container: T $value) { self.bless: :$value }
            # … and end here
        }

        # This handles the mixin process that combines the outer class with its inner role
        method ^parameterize(Mu:U \this, Mu \T) {
            my $type := this.^mixin: R[T];
            $type.^set_name: this.^name ~ '[' ~ T.^name ~ ']';
            $type
        }
    } 
    
 The C<::Identifier> syntax is defines a type capture.  You can then use the captured type  
 anywhere else you would use a type.  For example, if you have an array-like class, you
 want to make sure you only add things of the same type. 

    role ArrayWrapper[::TypeCapture] {
      has TypeCapture @internal;
      method push(TypeCapture $elem) { @internal.push: $elem }
      method pop(   --> TypeCapture) { @internal.pop         }
    }

 It's somewhat traditional to use a single letter for the type capture, but you're free to use 
 whatever name you want.  You can also use use type captures in signatures:

    sub same-type-only(::T $foo, T $bar) { 
      # dies unless $foo and $bar have matching types 
    }
    
 Unfortunately, this isn't available for slurpies because they don't (currently) allow typing. 
    
 =head2 Summary


 =head1 Slurpies

 Slurpies present a major problem for strongly typed Raku programming: they don't allow typing
 (yet, at least).  In generally, just don't.  But if you need to use this, there are a few 
 work arounds.  The easiest way is to add a where clause:

    sub only-strings(*@slurpy where .all ~~ Str) { … }
    
 Hashes are far more complicated because if you use .all, you can only match with a Pair, which
 is not parameterizable.  So we need to do two checks:

    sub only-string-key-int-val(
            *%slurpy where .keys.all   ~~ Str 
                        && .values.all ~~ Int
    ) { … } 
                                            
 There is a I<huge> caveat with this method for both Positionals and Associatives.  Your slurpy 
 will *not* be typed.  To ensure further type matching, you'll need to create an entirely
 new variable first.

    sub only-strings(*@slurpy where .all ~~ Str) {
      my Str @typed-slurpy = Array.new: @slurpy;
    }

    sub only-string-key-int-val(
            *%slurpy where .keys.all   ~~ Str 
                        && .values.all ~~ Int
    ) { 
      my Int %typed-slurpy{Str} = Hash[Int,Str].new(%slurpy);
    } 

 This is a complicated bit of boilerplate and fraught with many places where you can mess
 up.  While there may be a use case for it, it is probably much safer to just require a
 typed array to be passed.  Calling C<only-takes-str-array(Array[Str].new(…))> might be
 annoying, but it helps to reinforce across the code base that we only want certain values.

 Furthermore, IDEs and compilers are more likely to catch problems sooner with the typical
 typed array/hash, than they are to catch C<where> clauses which by definition are checked
 at runtime (maybe some day simple ones can be caught, but that's a long way off, and will
 never be fully accurate).

 =head2 Summary

 Don't use slurpies in strongly typed Raku.  Just. Don't. Do. It.

 =end pod
	=begin pod

	Raku is a gradual typed language, allowing you to completely ignore typing for quick mock ups,
	or enforce very strict typing to ensure reliability in critical programs. This is a guide for
	certain issues that can come up when writing strongly typed Raku code.



	=head1 Basic typing

	By default, Raku doesn't care what you store in variables.

	my $foo;
	$foo = 1;
	$foo = "one";
	$foo = { * + 1 };

	In a perfect world, we would always remember exactly what is being passed where
	and make no mistakes whatsoever. But sometimes as programmers we can screw up:

	my $number;
	$number = "one";
	say $number + 2;

	In this case, it's quite easy to ensure that C<$number> always contains something
	numeric. Compare the results of the following two lines.

	my Numeric $number;
	$number = 1; # ✓
	$number = 1.11; # ✓
	$number = 1 / 10; # ✓
	$number = "one"; # error

	The type of a variable can be set as either a class or a role. In Raku, classes
	and roles function fairly independently of each other thanks to mixins, so don't
	worry too much about whether you're using a class or a role: just ensure it locks
	values into what you want. For numbers, note the difference:

	# Classes
	my Int $a; # only accepts 1, 2, 3, etc.
	my Rat $b; # only accepts 1/1, 2/1, 3/1, etc.
	my Num $c; # only accepts 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc.

	# Roles
	my Numeric $d; # accepts an Int, Rat, or Num

	Be advised that a subclass will always be considered valid value for its parent's
	class, so if you ask for C<ParentClass>, you might also get C<ChildClass> unless
	you specifically disallow it (which can be done using subsets, see below).

	All typing information can I<also> be included on signatures:

	sub foo (Num $float, Int $integer, Numeric $any-number) { … }

	One extra feature of signatures currently not elsewhere is the ability to autocoerce.
	The two blocks are functionally equivalent:

	sub foo (Str() $text) { … }
	sub foo (Str $text) {
	$text = $text.Str unless $text ~~ Str
	…
	}

	This could works fine (ignoring that $text isn't r/w here) and will fail if the variable
	passed cannot coerce itself into Str. Autocoercion is great in situations like logging
	functions that will ultimately use the string value anyway. Be very judicious with it,
	however, because many objects may have unexpected or undesirable coercions (C<Array>
	coerces to numbers with the number of elements, so doing math on it with that value other
	than to calculate offsets or loops likely represents an error.

	=head2 Summary

	Whenever you declare any variable, always ensure that you have the type that
	best fits the variable. (Double and triple ask yourself if autocoercion is useful,
	when in doubt, have calling code coerce manually).



	=head1 Defined vs Types

	Generally, it's okay for most variables to go undefined and still be passed around.
	There are several subtle ways that undefined variables can accidentally come up
	and not cause problems until sometime later. For instance, consider this code:

	sub add(Int $a, Int $b) {
	...
	$a + $b
	}

	my Int @array = 1, 2, 3;
	my Int $value = @array[3]; # oops, we forgot Raku is 0-based.

	...

	foo $a, $b;

	The code will error, but it will error at the end of C<foo()>, even though the
	mistakes happened far earlier. This can make debugging more difficult. One
	possibility could be to say:

	sub add(Int $a, Int $b) {
	die unless $a.defined;
	die unless $b.defined;
	...
	$a + $b
	}

	That's an improvement: even though we don't need to use $a in a defined way,
	we'll catch it at the very beginning. But we can keep it in the sub's
	signature:

	sub foo(Int $a where .defined, Int $b where .defined) { … }

	By putting it in the signature, the error can be caught as soon as the
	sub is called. Using `where *.defined` is a bit line-noise-y, so there's
	a syntactical shortcut for it:

	sub foo(Int:D $a, Int:D $b) { … }

	The C<:D> constraint doesn't actually have to have a type defined (although
	we're talking about strictly typing here so let's avoid that, mmkay?), in
	which case it's implied to be C<Any:D>

	sub add(:D $a, :D $b) { … }

	Sometimes, instead of desiring a defined object, you might want to
	explicitly work with undefined variables. This is useful when
	you want to pass types as types (for example, in parameterization).
	Undefinedness can be enforced simply with the C<:U> constraint.

	sub foo(:U $a)

	=head2 Summary

	For strongly typed Raku, you should always ensure that every parameter
	in a signature has a definedness constraint. Here's the interpretations

	Any:D $defined-only
	Any:U $undefined-only
	Any:_ $either-DANGER
	Any $also-either-DANGER

	=head1 Subsets and Constraints

	When you want to restrict the values, rather than the type, you'll want to use a subset.
	For instance, dividing a number can be done by anything but zero, so let's imagine a
	C<divide> function that takes two numbers and returns the result:

	sub divide(Numeric $dividend, Numeric $divisor) {
	die "Division by zero is impossible" if $divisor == 0;
	…
	return $quotient;
	}

	There are better ways to handle this. One way is to explicitly state the limitations:

	sub divide(Numeric $dividend, Numeric $divisor where * != 0)

	This is great for single ad-hoc constraints. But let's consider a function that wants
	a CSS color value as a string.

	sub pretty(Str $color where /<[0..9a..fA..F]> ** 6/) { … }

	The problem here is two fold: (1) color is something we'll probably use over and over
	again and we'd have to keep rewriting the constraint and (2) a CSS color is more than
	just six hexadecimal digits. It could also be three hex digits, or a name, or use an
	explicit color type format like C<rgba(123,45,67,.89)>. What can be done instead is
	create a CSSColor subset which is a Str by type, but whose values are limited to those
	that are valid in CSS:

	subset CSSColor of Str where {
	\|\| $_ ~~ /<[0..9a..fA..F> ** 6/
	\|\| $_ ~~ /<[0..9a..fA..F> ** 3/
	\|\| $_ ∈ <red green blue yellow>
	\|\| …
	}

	sub pretty(CSSColor $color) { … }

	Now in the sub we can safely print out $color being assured it is a valid CSS, as well
	use it in any other sub. If CSS changes its definition of colors, we can modify just
	the subset and it will apply to every instance.

	Subsets don't have to work on just the values. For instance, imagine I want a sub
	to accept objects that are I<both> Positional I<and> Associative? I can't include
	that in the type information itself — only via where clauses:

	sub double-duty($foo where Positional & Associative) { … }

	But with a subset, I can:

	subset TwoWays where Positional & Associative;
	sub double-duty(TwoWays $foo) { … }

	You can make very complex subsets:

	subset Overkill where $_ ~~ Positional
	&& .[0] == 0
	&& .[3] == 3
	&& .all ~~ Int
	&& .elems < 10;

	my Overkill $a = (0,1,2,3,4); # perfect
	my Overkill $b = (1,1,2,3,4); # error: first element must be 0
	my Overkill $c = (0..10).List; # error: more than ten elements

	A really cool thing about subsets is that, written in a particular way, you can give
	some very useful error messages.

	subset Overkill where ($_ ~~ Positional \|\| die "Must give a Positional value")
	&& (.[0] == 0 \|\| die "The first element must be zero")
	&& (.[3] == 3 \|\| die "The third element must be 3, but it was ", .[3])
	&& (.all ~~ Int \|\| die "All elements must be Ints")
	&& (.elems < 10 \|\| die "Must have less than 10 elements but found ", .elems);

	my Overkill $a = (0,1,2,2,4); # die output: "The third element must be 3, but it was 2"
	my Overkill $b = (1,1,2,3,4); # die output: "The first element must be zero"
	my Overkill $c = (0..10).List; # die output: "Must have less than 10 elements but found 11"

	Usually die is what you want, but you can also create specific exception types and throw them
	instead if you intended to use C<CATCH> blocks regularly.

	=head2 Summary

	Define a subset by using a where clause followed a single value (will be smartmatched) or one
	or more operations.

	subset 8bit where 0..255 # ranges' smart match checks values
	subset SmallOrBig where (0..10) \| (100..1000) # junctions are allowed
	subset UnderTen where * < 10 # whatevers are valid (only use one)
	subset UnderTenEven where $_ < 10 && # have to use topic variable
	&& $_ % 2 # to reference value more than once
	subset ThreeItems where .elems == 3 # since it's topicalized, you can use .method
	# without the $_ reference.

	Use a subset for whenever there are bad values or complicated restrictions for a type.
	You can also use them for complicated types (that mix two or more). Subsets are fairly
	fundamental to both strongly typed and safe Raku coding.


	=head1 Arrays and Hashes

	Arrays and hashes present some problems when trying to strongly type because of the way that
	parameterization can be defined. Consider an array:

	my @integers = 1,2,3,'4';

	This assignment is considered valid, but clearly contains a C<Str> that we don't want to
	allow. Positional objects stored with a C<@> sigil can be quickly typed by simply placing
	the type in front (remember that the C<@> sigil I<implies> the Positional type).

	my Int @integers = …

	And now it would catch accidentally putting in a Str. This is fairly straightforward. But
	what if you want to have an array of arrays? The basic type definition is

	my Array @arrays

	But we can't say C<my Int Array @arrays>, because the C<Array> isn't defined in a C<@> sigil,
	but we can use another format (which also works for C<$>-sigiled positionals):

	my Array[Int] @arrays;
	my Array[Array[Int]] $arrays-in-scalar;

	Strongly typed Raku is very strict: the above arrays require extra work to work with:

	my Array[Int] @arrays;
	@arrays[0] = 1, 2, 3; # error! 1,2,3 is List[Any]
	@arrays[0] = Array[Int].new(1,2,3); # correct
	@arrays = (1,2,3), (4,5,6), (7,8,9) # each value is a List[Any]
	@arrays = Array[Int].new(1,2,3),
	Array[Int].new(4,5,6),
	Array[Int].new(7,8,9); # correct, each value is an Array[Int]

	Note the use of the C<Class[Type]> in the object constructor to enforce the correct
	object type.

	The same principle exists for Associatives like Hashes or Maps. You can almost think of
	Positionals as hashes whose keys are integers. By default, the key of Associatives
	are C<Str>, and the values are defeined similar to Positional value types:

	my Int %integer-values = …

	Sometimes, however, you may want to use a key type other than Str, for instance,
	if you are creating a mapping between various objects. There is a special syntax
	that uses curly braces to do this:

	my Int %foo{Any} = …

	This enables any kind of object to be used as a key. You don't actually need
	the value to be defined to constrain the key, so to allow for any value, but
	requiring integer keys, you can say:

	my %any-value{Int}

	For an Associative with keys
	restricted to things like C<Rat> with values that are strings, you could say:

	my Str %foo{Rat} = 1/2 => 'one half', 1 => 'one', 3/2 => 'one and a half';

	Just like with positionals, it is possible to define type constraints along
	with the main class when using a scalar value:

	my Map[Str,Rat] = …

	In this format, note the order of the values C<Associative[Value,Key]>. If
	you want to only define the key with this format, you will need to explicitly
	use the value type C<Any>.

	=head2 Summary

	Here's a quick review of the different ways to define type/value relationships:

	Positionals (remember, the @sigil implies Positional, NOT Array or List)
	#######################################
	my Str @array; # a Positional containing Str values
	my List[Int] $array-in-scalar; # a List containing Int values, stored in a scalar
	my Array[Rat] @array; # a Positional containing Arrays that contain Rat values
	my Array[List[Str]] @array; # a Positional containing Arrays that contain Lists that contain Str values

	Associatives (remember, the %sigil implies Associative, NOT Hash or Map, and defaults to Str keys)
	#######################################
	my Rat %hash; # an Associative containing Rat values with Str keys
	my Rat %hash{Int}; # an Associative containing Rat values with Int keys
	my %hash{Int}; # an Associative containing Rat values with Any keys
	my Hash[Rat] $hash-in-scalar; # a Hash containing Str keys and Rat values, stored in a scalar
	my Hash[Rat,Int] $hash-in-scalar; # a Hash containing Num keys and Rat values, stored in a scalar
	my Hash[Any,Int] $hash-in-scalar; # a Hash containing Num keys and Any values, stored in a scalar

	While you can go crazy and define a value like `my Hash[Array[Map[Callable]],Str] %hash{str}`,
	it's really overkill. If the structure is know in advance, you are almost I<always> in such
	case better off to make small objects. In particular, hash access is slower than attribute access,
	can help with code completion in IDEs, and very importantly, will error when accessing non-existent
	attributes (both Hashes and Arrays will return type objects which might not error immediately, see
	Definedness and Types above).


	=head1 Other Parameterization

	To create your own parameterization, define your role with extra brackets

	role Positional[::Value] { … }

	It is possible to parameterize classes, but it is also a bit more difficult because it
	involves making a special inner-role and is currently Rakudo-specific (at the moment
	not a problem, as Rakudo is the only Raku compiler). For more information, see
	L<this SO post\|https://stackoverflow.com/questions/57554660>.

	class DescriptiveName {
	my role R[::T] {
	has T $.value; # our parameterized value

	# All "actual" methods will go begin here…
	method new(Container: T $value) { self.bless: :$value }
	# … and end here
	}

	# This handles the mixin process that combines the outer class with its inner role
	method ^parameterize(Mu:U \this, Mu \T) {
	my $type := this.^mixin: R[T];
	$type.^set_name: this.^name ~ '[' ~ T.^name ~ ']';
	$type
	}
	}

	The C<::Identifier> syntax is defines a type capture. You can then use the captured type
	anywhere else you would use a type. For example, if you have an array-like class, you
	want to make sure you only add things of the same type.

	role ArrayWrapper[::TypeCapture] {
	has TypeCapture @internal;
	method push(TypeCapture $elem) { @internal.push: $elem }
	method pop( --> TypeCapture) { @internal.pop }
	}

	It's somewhat traditional to use a single letter for the type capture, but you're free to use
	whatever name you want. You can also use use type captures in signatures:

	sub same-type-only(::T $foo, T $bar) {
	# dies unless $foo and $bar have matching types
	}

	Unfortunately, this isn't available for slurpies because they don't (currently) allow typing.

	=head2 Summary


	=head1 Slurpies

	Slurpies present a major problem for strongly typed Raku programming: they don't allow typing
	(yet, at least). In generally, just don't. But if you need to use this, there are a few
	work arounds. The easiest way is to add a where clause:

	sub only-strings(*@slurpy where .all ~~ Str) { … }

	Hashes are far more complicated because if you use .all, you can only match with a Pair, which
	is not parameterizable. So we need to do two checks:

	sub only-string-key-int-val(
	*%slurpy where .keys.all ~~ Str
	&& .values.all ~~ Int
	) { … }

	There is a I<huge> caveat with this method for both Positionals and Associatives. Your slurpy
	will not be typed. To ensure further type matching, you'll need to create an entirely
	new variable first.

	sub only-strings(*@slurpy where .all ~~ Str) {
	my Str @typed-slurpy = Array.new: @slurpy;
	}

	sub only-string-key-int-val(
	*%slurpy where .keys.all ~~ Str
	&& .values.all ~~ Int
	) {
	my Int %typed-slurpy{Str} = Hash[Int,Str].new(%slurpy);
	}

	This is a complicated bit of boilerplate and fraught with many places where you can mess
	up. While there may be a use case for it, it is probably much safer to just require a
	typed array to be passed. Calling C<only-takes-str-array(Array[Str].new(…))> might be
	annoying, but it helps to reinforce across the code base that we only want certain values.

	Furthermore, IDEs and compilers are more likely to catch problems sooner with the typical
	typed array/hash, than they are to catch C<where> clauses which by definition are checked
	at runtime (maybe some day simple ones can be caught, but that's a long way off, and will
	never be fully accurate).

	=head2 Summary

	Don't use slurpies in strongly typed Raku. Just. Don't. Do. It.

	=end pod