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Discussion on: Type System FAQ

 
stereobooster profile image
stereobooster

My opinion: it exists in the same way as glider exists in the game of life. The structure itself exists on the board, but the meaning exists in the head of observer. From board (game of life) pov: yet another configuration. From human pov: oh look it has interesting properties.

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codemouse92 profile image
Jason C. McDonald • Edited

Yeah, I think that's fair. I just don't want anyone to get the idea that "type" (conceptually) isn't an important concept in machine code, which would be fundamentally misleading.

BTW, although I have limited experience writing assembly, I checked all of this with one of my co-workers, who programmed in binary and machine code (with punchcards) as his full time job for many years.

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stereobooster profile image
stereobooster • Edited

Fair point. I'm not sure shall we call it Types or Encoding 🤔.

Non scientific chart:

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codemouse92 profile image
Jason C. McDonald

Heh, excellent chart. "Machine types" is a bit closer to what I'm talking about, I think, although encoding certainly enters into it some.