Generic type inference in Scala - scala

Question

I've written the following code, which is actually a dumb merge-sort implementation in scala:
import scala.collection.immutable.List
object MergeSort {
def sort[T,E]( comparator: (E,E) => Int ) (l: List[T]): List[T] = {
def merge[T](first: List[T], second: List[T]): List[T] = (first, second) match {
case (_, List()) => first
case (List(), _) => second
case (f::restFirst, s::restSecond) if comparator(f.asInstanceOf[E],s.asInstanceOf[E]) < 0 => f :: merge(restFirst, second)
case (f::restFirst, s::restSecond) => s :: merge(first, restSecond)
}
l match {
case List() => return l
case List(x) => return l
case _ => {
val (first, second) = l.splitAt( l.length / 2 )
merge( sort(comparator)(first), sort(comparator)(second) )
}
}
}
}
This is instead of the following, more elegant, solution:
import scala.collection.immutable.List
object MergeSort {
def sort[T]( comparator: (T,T) => Int ) (l: List[T]): List[T] = {
def merge[T](first: List[T], second: List[T]): List[T] = (first, second) match {
case (_, List()) => first
case (List(), _) => second
case (f::restFirst, s::restSecond) if comparator(f,s) < 0 => f :: merge(restFirst, second)
case (f::restFirst, s::restSecond) => s :: merge(first, restSecond)
}
l match {
case List() => return l
case List(x) => return l
case _ => {
val (first, second) = l.splitAt( l.length / 2 )
merge( sort(comparator)(first), sort(comparator)(second) )
}
}
}
}
Which doesn't compile, giving me the following error message:
MergeSort.scala:10: type mismatch;
[error] found : f.type (with underlying type T)
[error] required: T
[error] case (f::restFirst, s::restSecond) if comparator(f,s) < 0 => f :: merge(restFirst, second)
Why is the explicit cast necessary since the underlying type is T ?

Answer 1

This is one of the most annoying Scala gotchas I can think of (maybe after semicolon inference-related issues with operators). You're three characters from the correct answer.
The problem is the type parameter on merge. It introduces a new T that shadows the T type parameter on sort. The compiler therefore doesn't know that comparator can be applied to instances of that new T. You can boss it around with a cast, which is why your first version works, but otherwise it sees that T as a blank slate.
Just write def merge(first: List[T], ... and you'll be fine.