From 8ab991fba503f446c70f877969e4314d0cc7d2f3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Bruce Hill <bruce@bruce-hill.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2025 15:40:57 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Allow using an untyped empty array/set/table literal for
 places where the expected type is known

---
 src/compile.c   | 18 +++++++++++++++---
 src/parse.c     | 13 ++++---------
 src/typecheck.c | 12 ++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 31 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/compile.c b/src/compile.c
index 6c3b51f..bf6f0b7 100644
--- a/src/compile.c
+++ b/src/compile.c
@@ -866,6 +866,7 @@ static CORD _compile_statement(env_t *env, ast_t *ast)
                 return compile_statement(env, WrapAST(ast, DocTest, .expr=decl->value, .expected=test->expected, .skip_source=test->skip_source));
             CORD var = CORD_all("_$", Match(decl->var, Var)->name);
             type_t *t = get_type(env, decl->value);
+            if (!t) code_err(decl->value, "I couldn't figure out the type of this value!");
             CORD val_code = compile_maybe_incref(env, decl->value, t);
             if (t->tag == FunctionType) {
                 assert(promote(env, decl->value, &val_code, t, Type(ClosureType, t)));
@@ -1840,6 +1841,16 @@ CORD compile_to_type(env_t *env, ast_t *ast, type_t *t)
         }
     } else if (ast->tag == None && Match(ast, None)->type == NULL) {
         return compile_none(t);
+    } else if (t->tag == ArrayType && ast->tag == Array && !Match(ast, Array)->item_type && !Match(ast, Array)->items) {
+        return compile(env, ast);
+    } else if (t->tag == TableType && ast->tag == Table) {
+        auto table = Match(ast, Table);
+        if (!table->key_type && !table->value_type && !table->default_value && !table->fallback && !table->entries)
+            return compile(env, ast);
+    } else if (t->tag == SetType && ast->tag == Set) {
+        auto set = Match(ast, Set);
+        if (!set->item_type && !set->items)
+            return compile(env, ast);
     }
 
     type_t *actual = get_type(env, ast);
@@ -2695,13 +2706,13 @@ CORD compile(env_t *env, ast_t *ast)
             "})");
     }
     case Array: {
-        type_t *array_type = get_type(env, ast);
-        type_t *item_type = Match(array_type, ArrayType)->item_type;
-
         auto array = Match(ast, Array);
         if (!array->items)
             return "(Array_t){.length=0}";
 
+        type_t *array_type = get_type(env, ast);
+        type_t *item_type = Match(array_type, ArrayType)->item_type;
+
         int64_t n = 0;
         for (ast_list_t *item = array->items; item; item = item->next) {
             ++n;
@@ -3758,6 +3769,7 @@ CORD compile(env_t *env, ast_t *ast)
 
 CORD compile_type_info(type_t *t)
 {
+    if (t == NULL) compiler_err(NULL, NULL, NULL, "Attempt to compile a NULL type");
     if (t == PATH_TYPE) return "&Path$info";
     else if (t == PATH_TYPE_TYPE) return "&PathType$info";
 
diff --git a/src/parse.c b/src/parse.c
index 04e3595..43cd150 100644
--- a/src/parse.c
+++ b/src/parse.c
@@ -710,15 +710,13 @@ PARSER(parse_array) {
     whitespace(&pos);
     expect_closing(ctx, &pos, "]", "I wasn't able to parse the rest of this array");
 
-    if (!item_type && !items)
-        parser_err(ctx, start, pos, "Empty arrays must specify what type they would contain (e.g. [:Int])");
-
     REVERSE_LIST(items);
     return NewAST(ctx->file, start, pos, Array, .item_type=item_type, .items=items);
 }
 
 PARSER(parse_table) {
     const char *start = pos;
+    if (match(&pos, "{/}")) return NULL;
     if (!match(&pos, "{")) return NULL;
 
     whitespace(&pos);
@@ -759,9 +757,6 @@ PARSER(parse_table) {
 
     REVERSE_LIST(entries);
 
-    if (!key_type && !value_type && !entries)
-        return NULL;
-
     whitespace(&pos);
 
     ast_t *fallback = NULL, *default_value = NULL;
@@ -798,6 +793,9 @@ PARSER(parse_table) {
 
 PARSER(parse_set) {
     const char *start = pos;
+    if (match(&pos, "{/}"))
+        return NewAST(ctx->file, start, pos, Set);
+
     if (!match(&pos, "{")) return NULL;
 
     whitespace(&pos);
@@ -833,9 +831,6 @@ PARSER(parse_set) {
 
     REVERSE_LIST(items);
 
-    if (!item_type && !items)
-        return NULL;
-
     whitespace(&pos);
     expect_closing(ctx, &pos, "}", "I wasn't able to parse the rest of this set");
 
diff --git a/src/typecheck.c b/src/typecheck.c
index d2a976b..8a2ee32 100644
--- a/src/typecheck.c
+++ b/src/typecheck.c
@@ -739,6 +739,10 @@ type_t *get_type(env_t *env, ast_t *ast)
         }
         if (has_stack_memory(item_type))
             code_err(ast, "Arrays cannot hold stack references, because the array may outlive the stack frame the reference was created in.");
+
+        if (!item_type)
+            code_err(ast, "I couldn't figure out the item type for this array!");
+
         return Type(ArrayType, .item_type=item_type);
     }
     case Set: {
@@ -766,6 +770,10 @@ type_t *get_type(env_t *env, ast_t *ast)
                 item_type = item_merged;
             }
         }
+
+        if (!item_type)
+            code_err(ast, "I couldn't figure out the item type for this set!");
+
         if (has_stack_memory(item_type))
             code_err(ast, "Sets cannot hold stack references because the set may outlive the reference's stack frame.");
         return Type(SetType, .item_type=item_type);
@@ -809,6 +817,10 @@ type_t *get_type(env_t *env, ast_t *ast)
                 value_type = val_merged;
             }
         }
+
+        if (!key_type || !value_type)
+            code_err(ast, "I couldn't figure out the key and value types for this table!");
+
         if (has_stack_memory(key_type) || has_stack_memory(value_type))
             code_err(ast, "Tables cannot hold stack references because the table may outlive the reference's stack frame.");
         return Type(TableType, .key_type=key_type, .value_type=value_type, .default_value=table->default_value, .env=env);