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Type System for a Toy Language
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Type System for a Toy Language

HardPython

Problem

Design a type system for a hobby/toy programming language.

Asked in the screening_coding stage. Screening coding round.

Implement infer_type(expr), which returns the inferred type of a valid abstract syntax tree, or "TypeError" when type checking fails.

Contract

Expressions use dictionaries: {"var": "x"}, {"let": {"name": "x", "value": expr, "body": expr}}, {"lambda": {"param": "x", "type": "Int", "body": expr}}, and {"call": {"function": expr, "argument": expr}}. Integers and booleans are literals. Operators are represented as {"op": "+", "left": expr, "right": expr}. Supported operators are +, -, *, <, and ==. if uses {"if": {"condition": expr, "then": expr, "else": expr}}.

Return "Int", "Bool", or function types such as "(Int)->Bool".

Constraints

  • The AST is a nested combination of the specified expression forms.
  • Literals are integers or booleans.
  • Lambda parameters are annotated with Int or Bool.
  • Let bindings are lexically scoped.
  • An if condition must have type Bool, and both branches must have the same type.
  • The AST contains at most 10^4 nodes.

Function Signature

def infer_type(expr):
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