Type inference for record concatenation and multiple inheritance

The author shows that the type inference problem for a lambda calculus with records, including a record concatenation operator, is decidable. He shows that this calculus does not have principal types but does have finite complete sets of type, that is, for any term M in the calculus, there exists an effectively generable finite set of type schemes such that every typing for M is an instance of one of the schemes in the set. The author shows how a simple model of object-oriented programming, including hidden instance variables and multiple inheritance, may be coded in this calculus. The author concludes that type inference is decidable for object-oriented programs, even with multiple inheritance and classes as first-class values.<<ETX>>

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