What is the difference between type safety and type inference?

What is the difference between type safety and type inference?

Type safety ensures that variables are used consistently with their data types, preventing type errors. Type inference, on the other hand, is the ability of a programming language to automatically deduce the types of expressions without explicit type annotations.

Can you give me an example of type safety in a programming language?

Sure! In languages like Java, if you declare a variable as an integer, you cannot assign a string to it. This prevents type errors at compile time.

And what about type inference? How does it work?

Type inference is commonly seen in languages like TypeScript or Python. For example, if you write let x = 5; in TypeScript, the compiler infers that x is of type number without needing an explicit type declaration.

Are there any downsides to type inference?

Yes, while type inference can make code cleaner and easier to write, it can sometimes lead to less readable code, as the types are not explicitly stated, which may confuse developers unfamiliar with the code.