[External] : Re: case null / null pattern (v2)

[Brian Goetz]

> "case Foo fooButNull" is equivalent to "case null" but with a binding 
> typed as Foo that's why i ask if it should even compile,
> the compiler should ask for an explicit "case null".

It may be "equivalent" in our eyes, but the language doesn't currently 
incorporate nullity into the type system.  So it is similar to other 
kinds of "equivalences", where the human knows more than the language, 
such as single-sealed classes:

     sealed interface I permits A { }
     final class A implements I { }

     I i = ...
     A a = i

As humans, we know that the I must be an A, but we'd have to change the 
set of assignment (and other) conversions to reflect that.  We could, 
but right now, the language doesn't know this.

I could construct other examples of things the programmer knows but the 
language doesn't, but I think you get my point -- if you want to raise 
this equivalence into the language, this is not merely about pattern 
dominance, this is an upgrade to the type system.

>
> I'm not sure it should be include in the dominance, because Foo(int) 
> is a subtype of Foo, so
>   case Foo foo ->
>   case Foo(int _) foo ->
> should not compile.

Dominance already handles this case.  A type pattern `X x` dominates a 
record pattern `X(...)`.

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