Type Classes
Type classes are a programming language feature that enables ad-hoc polymorphism by defining a set of functions or operations that types can implement. They allow developers to write generic code that works across different types without requiring inheritance or modification of existing types. This concept is central to functional programming languages like Haskell and Scala, promoting code reuse and type safety.
Developers should learn type classes when working in statically-typed functional languages to achieve flexible and extensible polymorphism, such as for creating generic algorithms or libraries that operate on various data types. They are particularly useful in scenarios requiring operator overloading, serialization, or comparison functions across disparate types, as they avoid the limitations of traditional object-oriented inheritance.