Shapely types and shape polymorphism

Abstract

Shapely types separate data, represented by lists, from shape, or structure. This separation supports shape polymorphism, where operations are defined for arbitrary shapes, and shapely operations, for which the shape of the result is determined by that of the input, permitting static shape checking. They include both arrays and the usual algebraic types (of trees, graphs, etc.), and are closed under the formation of initial algebras.