# HG changeset patch
# User Paul Boddie <paul@boddie.org.uk>
# Date 1624814977 -7200
# Node ID 1429afa1fe5008f5833b0ae325872095874c54f9
# Parent  d5f80f46d2674e3878f0ef2bd3a1d6dee0df8728
Added some notes about the different type names.

diff -r d5f80f46d267 -r 1429afa1fe50 docs/wiki/Design
--- a/docs/wiki/Design	Wed Jun 23 01:52:42 2021 +0200
+++ b/docs/wiki/Design	Sun Jun 27 19:29:37 2021 +0200
@@ -697,3 +697,38 @@
 the appropriate parameter of this nature, but programmers could just write
 functions and methods that employ general sequence and mapping parameters
 explicitly instead.
+
+== Library and Built-In Types ==
+
+{{{#!table
+'''Lichen''' || '''Python''' || '''Rationale'''
+==
+Integers belong to the `integer` type
+|| Integers are represented using the `int` type
+|| The `int` callable cannot be used to construct integer values in Lichen
+==
+Strings belong to the `string` or `utf8string` types
+|| Strings are represented using the `str` or `unicode` types
+|| Separate `str` and `unicode` functions perform conversion to string types
+}}}
+
+=== Integer Type ===
+
+In Python, the `int` callable is largely used to convert other types to
+integers. However, it is also used to test whether instances are integers, and
+the callable is, in fact, a form of constructor. Since Lichen only supports
+the definition of initialisers (`__init__`) and not more exotic callables such
+as `__new__`, which would permit more control over the construction of
+instances, it cannot easily provide the necessary functionality to redefine
+the nature of an instance, at least in the case of integers whose identities
+are their values, which applies in Lichen because tagged values are used in
+place of integer instances, and thus the "virtual" instance being initialised
+would actually need to be exchanged instead of being changed in some way.
+
+=== String Types ===
+
+Similarly, in Python, the `str` and `unicode` callables both convert and
+construct new instances as well as acting as types. Although an initialiser
+could be written to mutate the value retained by such instances in Lichen,
+this precludes the obvious definition of a `str` function as merely a wrapper
+around the invocation of the `__str__` method of any given object.
diff -r d5f80f46d267 -r 1429afa1fe50 docs/wiki/Representations
--- a/docs/wiki/Representations	Wed Jun 23 01:52:42 2021 +0200
+++ b/docs/wiki/Representations	Sun Jun 27 19:29:37 2021 +0200
@@ -54,12 +54,12 @@
 obtaining an instance under normal circumstances, instead provides the address
 of a common integer instance. This instance may then provide instance
 attributes, whose values will be the same for all integers, or class
-attributes through a reference to the integer (`int`) class.
+attributes through a reference to the `integer` class.
 
-Each method provided by `int`, when called, will be given the original
+Each method provided by `integer`, when called, will be given the original
 attribute for which the method was obtained as its context. In such methods,
-operations on the context via `self` will either involve the propagation of
-the attribute to other functions or methods or attribute accesses on `self`,
+operations on the context via `self` will either involve the propagation of the
+attribute to other functions or methods or attribute accesses on `self`,
 yielding common instance attributes or class attributes as already described.
 Only native functions will attempt to interpret the attribute in a different
 way, decoding the representation, performing arithmetic or logical operations,
diff -r d5f80f46d267 -r 1429afa1fe50 docs/wiki/ToDo
--- a/docs/wiki/ToDo	Wed Jun 23 01:52:42 2021 +0200
+++ b/docs/wiki/ToDo	Sun Jun 27 19:29:37 2021 +0200
@@ -14,14 +14,14 @@
 
 === Numeric Types ===
 
-Support all the numeric types. Currently, only `int` is supported, but `float`
-merely requires some native code handling operations and testing for exception
-conditions. A representation for `long` needs to be determined, and `complex`
-probably just needs some methods implementing.
+Support all the numeric types. Currently, only `int` is supported (as
+`integer`), but `float` merely requires some native code handling operations
+and testing for exception conditions. A representation for `long` needs to be
+determined, and `complex` probably just needs some methods implementing.
 
-Support promotion between some of the numeric types. Currently, `int` values
-that overflow raise `OverflowError`, as was done in Python before automatic
-promotion to `long`.
+Support promotion between some of the numeric types. Currently, `integer`
+values that overflow raise `OverflowError`, as was done in Python before
+automatic promotion to `long`.
 
 === String Types ===