Validating the use of a fluent API with a type checker

Abstract

In this survey paper, we explain the implementation technique of a fluent API to enable a type checker to detect incorrect chaining of method invocations, from its basics to the latest research paper in 2019. Specifically, we explain the basic idea that such an implementation can be regarded as a syntax checker on top of a type system, and outline research papers from 2010 to 2019, each of which proposes a technique to realize a syntax checker on top of a type system. We also explain existing/missing techniques to put such implementation techniques into practice.