Type safe variadic printf
(stranger.systems)
While C can provide "convenient" string formatting by having hideously unsafe variadics, and dynamic languages, like python, can do the same, many type safe languages, such as Rust, are forced to provide such functionality through the use of a macro. Dependently typed languages, like Idris, can provide a printf like formatting interface, while maintaining both memory and type safety, without the need for macros. We will explore this by implementing a simplified version of printf in Idris from scratch.
While C can provide "convenient" string formatting by having hideously unsafe variadics, and dynamic languages, like python, can do the same, many type safe languages, such as Rust, are forced to provide such functionality through the use of a macro. Dependently typed languages, like Idris, can provide a printf like formatting interface, while maintaining both memory and type safety, without the need for macros. We will explore this by implementing a simplified version of printf in Idris from scratch.