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Glite Dictionary
🔤 A font group 💻 A group of types
type family

type family

8.1
A group of related data types that lets code choose a type based on input
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : familia de tipos
  • The library provides a type family so functions can return types depending on their input.

Examples

  • Students learned how a type family can simplify generic code by grouping related type rules.

  • The type family includes integers and floats.

  • In Haskell, the compiler uses a type family to relate types for different implementations.

  • A type family can simplify function definitions.

  • In Haskell, the compiler uses a type family to relate types for different implementations.

  • The library provides a type family so functions can return types depending on their input.

  • Students learned how a type family can simplify generic code by grouping related type rules.

Surface Forms

type family singular
type families plural

Morphology

type + family

The phrase is compositionally built from 'type' (a class/group) + 'family' (a grouping of related items), so it directly conveys 'a group of related types.' Although it is a technical term in programming, the meaning follows a common and cross-linguistically familiar 'X family' pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely infer the intended sense.

Etymology

Type family in programming uses the same family idea: related members that belong together. Picture boxes for different but related types that the computer can pick from when it needs one, so the term means 'a named group of related types used to choose types in code'.