josevalim
What are your concerns about a future type system for Elixir?
Hi everyone, as you may be aware, we are researching a type system for Elixir.
As preparation for my upcoming ElixirConf US talk, I would like to hear what are your concerns about Elixir adopting a type system in the future, hence this thread.
The goal of this thread is not to provide answers but simply have a general understanding of potential concerns and conflicts. Even if your concern turns out to not apply, it is important for us to know as it can be helpful material to include our guides and documentation.
I will establish some ground rules for this thread as an experiment:
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Keep your concerns short, one to three sentences maximum. For example: “I worry the type system will make the compiler slower”.
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Be precise if you can, avoid being too vague. For example, “I worry it will make Elixir bad” is too vague and therefore not helpful.
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You may list at most your top three concerns.
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Do not reply or comment on other concerns in this thread. If you agree with a concern someone else posted, feel free to “Like it” by clicking the heart button.
Let’s see how this goes, thanks. 
Edit1: for those who say “what about those who prefer dynamic”, I suggest to dig a bit deeper. Why would you prefer to be dynamic? Assuming that types provide values, what worries you about static types that you would rather avoid them?
Edit2: for those wondering why types and how they would impact Elixir, I have talked about this during my ElixirConf EU keynote 2022.
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josevalim
Another quick intervention: for those wondering why types and how they would impact Elixir, I have talked about this during my ElixirConf EU keynote 2022.
Also let’s please avoid categorizing people who prefer static or dynamic as X or Y. Calling part of the community noisy or trendy sounds very condescending and unproductive (it is also condescending towards Elixir maintainers, as it implies we are doing nothing more than following trends).
rvirding
For me the main question is: what is the actual problem they are trying to solve with static typing? Do they actually have a problem?
josevalim
Thank you everyone for sharing your concerns/worries. If folks want to continue the conversation in a new thread, you are more than welcome! Meanwhile this is more than enough to cover the most common concerns during my presentation, thank you! 
rlopzc
Hello! Excited to hear about the type system. My main concern would be the adoption and gradual migration to this new type system. A big downside would be that you either migrate fully to types or can’t use them.
sodapopcan
Fragmentation and Rust-style drama (the “unsafe” Rust drama, not the political Rust drama… oh, Rust). IE, “How dare you write your library without types!” incidents. I worry it will bring in an influx of people to the community with a different mindset who will make a lot of noise and apply massive pressure to make major changes to the language. I’m not overly concerned about the second as I trust the core team there, but thought I’d voice it (sorry for the extra sentence).
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