Defining datatypes

Datatype definitions are intended to look like the values they define, and are themselves defined as anonymous datatypes.

For example, the following values:

{'first_name': 'Bob', 'last_name': 'Smith'}
{'first_name': 'John', 'last_name': 'Doe'}

are both valid instances of this datatype:

{'first_name': 'str', 'last_name': 'str'}

Primitives

Primitive types are defined as strings bearing the python constructor name.

  • String: “str”
  • Integer: “int”
  • Float: “float”
  • Boolean: “bool”

Primitive datatypes are, by default, not-nullable. This can be overridden by prefixing the datatype with the “nullable” flag. Example:

"nullable str"

Lists

Lists-types are homogeneous, and are defined as a list of one datatype.

Example:

["int"]

Represents a list of ints. While:

[{'height': float, 'width': float}]

Represents a list of dictionaries (or “objects”).

Tuples

Tuples can be heterogeneous, but are fixed width and must have at least two items. Again, these are defined as lists of other datatypes:

["int", "str"]

Represents a tuple with two items. The first is an integer, and the second is a string.

Dictionaries

Dictionaries, or anonymous objects, are defined as dictionaries. The key of each item in the dictionary is the property-name, and the value must be another datatype definition. Example:

{'id': 'int', 'name': 'str', 'description': 'str'}

By default, all properties listed on the dictionary are required. The following value is invalid, as it lacks the required “description” property:

{'id': 5, 'name': 'invalid value'}

This behavior can be overridden by prefixing the property-name with the “optional” flag. This datatype is valid for the value listed above:

{'id': 'int', 'name': 'str', 'optional description': 'str'}

Arbitrary properties are supported when the wild-card key “_any_” is defined on the dictionary:

{'_any_': 'str'}

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