Abstract
The response of compilers to programs with type errors can be unpredictable and confusing. In part this is because the point at which type inference fails may not be the point at which the programmer has made a mistake. This paper explores a way of making type inference algorithms fail at different locations in programs so that clearer error messages may then be produced. Critical to the operation of type inference algorithms is their use of substitutions. We will see that the way in which substitutions are applied in type inference algorithm W means that errors are detected towards the right-hand side of expressions. This paper introduces a new operation -- unification of substitutions -- which allows greater control over the use of substitutions so that this bias can be removed.
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