Fl4m3Ph03n1x

Fl4m3Ph03n1x

Cannot understand warnings in Gradient

Background

I am now trying Gradual type checking, as a consequence I am giving a shot to Gradient. As I see it, this is an alternative to Dialyzer.

Problems

So, on my first ever code snippet, I started with a pure function:

defmodule TipCalculator do

  @spec getTipPercentage(List[String.t()]) :: non_neg_integer
  def getTipPercentage(names) do
    names_size = length(names)

    cond do
      names_size > 5 -> 20
      names_size > 0 -> 10
      true -> 0
    end
  end
end

From my point of view, my type checks are rather solid.
However, Gradient seems to have a different opinion:

===> Analyzing applications...
===> Compiling gradualizer
src/gradualizer.erl:45:2: Warning: opaque type top() is underspecified and therefore meaningless

src/typechecker.erl:3234:1: Warning: function type_check_cons_in/4 is unused
src/typechecker.erl:3247:1: Warning: function type_check_cons_union/4 is unused
src/typechecker.erl:4612:1: Warning: function verbose/3 is unused
src/typechecker.erl:4870:1: Warning: function gen_partition/3 is unused
src/typechecker.erl:4872:1: Warning: function paux/3 is unused

==> gradient
Compiling 14 files (.ex)
Generated gradient app
==> grokking_fp
Compiling 1 file (.ex)
warning: code block contains unused literal "\n" (remove the literal or assign it to _ to avoid warnings)
  lib/tip_calculator.ex: TipCalculator

Generated grokking_fp app
Typechecking files...
lib/tip_calculator.ex: Undefined remote type Access:get/2 on line 0

From what I can understand, this one piece of code (from a fresh project) has several issues:

  1. warning: code block contains unused literal “\n” (remove the literal or assign it to _ to avoid warnings)
  2. lib/tip_calculator.ex: Undefined remote type Access:get/2 on line 0

The fist one sounds like a warning credo (or a linter) would give me. So I am not really sure what do do with it. I am expecting a tool that does type checks only (maybe I am wrong?).

The second one, I have no idea.

Questions

What am I doing wrong?

Marked As Solved

Fl4m3Ph03n1x

Fl4m3Ph03n1x

Answer

I got confused a little bit, the correct typing was [String.t] and not List[String.t].

I will say however that:

lib/tip_calculator.ex: Undefined remote type Access:get/2 on line 0

Is not (to me) a very descriptive error message.
However, given the alternative (dialzyer) message is not much better:

lib/tip_calculator.ex:8:unknown_type
Unknown type: Access.get/2.

I will say however, the line number was an incredible help to find the issue.
With Gradient line 0 really threw me off.

Also Liked

OvermindDL1

OvermindDL1

The first thing about the warning looks like just a warning in the gradient’s source, not yours.

The second thing is because Access.get is how elixir desugars things like what looks like array accesses, so typing @spec getTipPercentage(List[String.t()]) :: non_neg_integer is actually typing @spec getTipPercentage(Access.get(List, String.t())) :: non_neg_integer, which doesn’t make much sense as a type. ^.^;

But yeah, that’s not an issue for erlang code, it’s just some of Elixir’s magic making the type error a bit weird.

Where Next?

Popular Backend topics Top

Rainer
Is there somewhere a good introduction to rust for experienced programmers (with years of C++/C#/Java experience)? Wanted to give it a t...
New
IhorYachmenov
Hello. I have an iOS app where needs a proxying website through private server(HTTP / HTTPS proxy), but its idea each time has some trou...
New
Kurisu
Hello and happy new year! I would like to buy a Ruby On Rails ebook for learning purpose. What would be the ROR equivalent of “Programm...
New
GermaVinsmoke
Reading Programming Elixir 1.6 book, I’ve completed part 1 of the book. Now I’m thinking of reading Elixir in Action. What do you all sug...
New
Fl4m3Ph03n1x
Background I am trying out polymorphic typing with dialyzer. As an example I am using the famous Option type (aka, Maybe Monad) that is n...
New
JimmyCarterSon
I am following this tutorial . I have followed carefully correcting errors as I go. The app allows you to create a blog post and add comm...
New
Fl4m3Ph03n1x
Background I have an umbrella project, where I run mix test from the root. In one of the apps, I am mocking the File module using the Mo...
New
ogoldberg
Any recommendations on good resources for learning Elixir, Phoenix, and Ash?
New
AstonJ
If you’re getting errors like this: psql: error: connection to server on socket “/tmp/.s.PGSQL.5432” failed: No such file or directory ...
New
Shiny
Hey community, this is my first post here so I will try to be as concise as possible and I appreciate any feedback. I’ve been writing Ro...
New

Other popular topics Top

siddhant3030
I’m thinking of buying a monitor that I can rotate to use as a vertical monitor? Also, I want to know if someone is using it for program...
New
AstonJ
I have seen the keycaps I want - they are due for a group-buy this week but won’t be delivered until October next year!!! :rofl: The Ser...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Tailwind CSS is an exciting new CSS framework that allows you to design your site by composing simple utility classes to create complex e...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Rails 7 completely redefines what it means to produce fantastic user experiences and provides a way to achieve all the benefits of single...
New
New
AstonJ
Was just curious to see if any were around, found this one: I got 51/100: Not sure if it was meant to buy I am sure at times the b...
New
DevotionGeo
I have always used antique keyboards like Cherry MX 1800 or Cherry MX 8100 and almost always have modified the switches in some way, like...
New
First poster: AstonJ
Jan | Rethink the Computer. Jan turns your computer into an AI machine by running LLMs locally on your computer. It’s a privacy-focus, l...
New
NewsBot
Node.js v22.14.0 has been released. Link: Release 2025-02-11, Version 22.14.0 'Jod' (LTS), @aduh95 · nodejs/node · GitHub
New
RobertRichards
Hair Salon Games for Girls Fun Girls Hair Saloon game is mainly developed for kids. This game allows users to select virtual avatars to ...
New