RFC: Singleton types

rfcs/syntax-singleton-types.md

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+# Singleton types
+
+> Note: this RFC was adapted from an internal proposal that predates RFC process
+
+## Summary
+
+Introduce a new kind of type variable, called singleton types. They are just like normal types but has the capability to represent a constant runtime value as a type.
+
+## Motivation
+
+There are two primary drivers to add two kinds of singleton types: `string` and `boolean`.
+
+### `string` singleton types
+
+Luau type checker can get by mostly fine without constant string types, but it can shine at its best in user code.
+
+One popular pattern are the abstract data types, which could be supported:
+
+```
+type Ok<T> = { type: "ok", value: T }
+type Err<E> = { type: "error", error: E }
+type Result<T, E> = Ok<T> | Err<E>
+
+local result: Result<number, string> = ...
+if result.type == "ok" then
+    -- result :: Ok<number>
+    print(result.value)
+else
+    -- result :: Err<string>
+    error(result.error)
+end
+```
+
+### `boolean` singleton types
+
+At the moment, Luau type checker is completely unable to discern the state of a boolean whatsoever, which makes it impossible to determine all the possible types of the expression from any variations of `a and b`, `a and b or c`, or `a or b`.
+
+## Design
+
+Both design components of singleton types should be intuitive for everyone by default.
+
+### Syntax
+
+A constant string token as well as a constant boolean token is now allowed to show up in type annotation context.
+
+```
+type Animals = "Dog" | "Cat" | "Bird"
+type TrueOrNil = true?
+```
+
+### Semantics
+
+You are allowed to provide a constant value to the generic primitive type.
+
+```lua
+local foo: "Hello world" = "Hello world"
+local bar: string = foo -- allowed
+
+local foo: true = true
+local bar: boolean = foo -- also allowed
+```
+
+The inverse is not true, because you're trying to narrow any values to a specific value.
+
+```lua
+local foo: string = "Hello world"
+local bar: "Hello world" = foo -- not allowed
+
+local foo: boolean = true
+local bar: true = foo -- not allowed
+```
+
+## Drawbacks
+
+This may increase the cost of type checking - since some types now need to carry a string literal value, it may need to be copied and compared. The cost can be mitigated through interning although this is not very trivial due to cross-module type checking and the need to be able to typecheck a module graph incrementally.
+
+This may make the type system a bit more complex to understand, as many programmers have a mental model of types that doesn't include being able to use literal values as a type, and having that be a subtype of a more general value type.