Allow specifying the type when defining structs

I use GitHub - ejpcmac/typed_struct: An Elixir library for defining structs with a type without writing boilerplate code. · GitHub for all of my structs. The built-in dialyzer integration provided by the Elixir LS editor plugin does the checking.

Hello, thanks for the link, that library is cool and I am going to use it. However I thought that maybe something like this could be nice in the standard library.

One of the reason why Ecto has been split is to separate Sql from casting and validation.

It’s totally possible to define Ecto schema without table, for example a Contact Form, which will have casting and validation included, without ever touching the database.

Otherwise, You can define @type for the struct, and get dialyzer checking, or use the lib indicated by @tme_317

You might want it in the standard lib, but You have this in Ecto already

I am making something small and I found it to be redundant to use Ecto for it when I dont need it for anything else. I think it would be more better to have this in elixir and not ecto because then people could then validate their regular structs to too, not just their schemas. Without pulling in a extra dependency.

This has been an irrelevant problem ever since the Apple IIc computers stopped being mainstream. What are you worried about? A several dozen of kilobytes extra on your drive?

Doesn’t seem like a valid objection.

I like keeping my things as slick and small as possible. If nobody agrees with me on this then I will do things by myself in my code. For this I will be using the TypedStruct dependency because that does exactly what I want, not more.

For a hobby project that’s completely fine.

In a professional programming setting however, you will not be given this luxury.

I am going to follow the rules my employer gives me. If I get a job in the Elixir field.

What are you worried about? A several dozen of kilobytes extra on your drive?

Maybe about

• the need for keeping track of updates of that dependency
• potential conflicts delaying updates of other dependencies
• introducing potential vulnerabilities
• extended compilation time
• waking up when a dozen kilobytes turns into hundreds of megabytes, as in case of NPM and node_modules

So definitely having as little unused stuff in your deps as possible is a good approach

Dependencies can be pinned to a version that doesn’t break. Security for small dependencies is a non-issue.

Compilation times for become problematic if you pull 50 dependencies, that’s true.

I agree dependencies can balloon to hundreds of megabytes but I’ve only seen that in the JS and Rust ecosystems. Never in Elixir.

I like the purist and minimalistic approach, mind you. But I found that it can be very unproductive in a professional setting. For hobby projects you obviously can dive as deep as you like.