Type system

In programming languages, a type system is a collection of rules that assign a property called type to various constructs a computer program consists of, such as variables, expressions, functions or modules. The main purpose of a type system is to reduce possibilities for bugs in computer programs by defining interfaces between different parts of a computer program, and then checking that the parts have been connected in a consistent way. This checking can happen statically (at compile time), dynamically (at run time), or as a combination of static and dynamic checking. Type systems have other purposes as well, such as enabling certain compiler optimizations, allowing for multiple dispatch, providing a form of documentation, etc.