Foundations of path-dependent types

Abstract

A scalable programming language is one in which the same concepts can describe small as well as large parts. Towards this goal, Scala unifies concepts from object and module systems. An essential ingredient of this unification is the concept of objects with type members, which can be referenced through path-dependent types. Unfortunately, path-dependent types are not well-understood, and have been a roadblock in grounding the Scala type system on firm theory.