Language Comparison
How does Kit compare to other languages? This page highlights key features across
functional and systems programming languages.
Type System and Safety
| Language |
Type System |
Type Inference |
ADTs/Sum Types |
Null Safety |
Immutable Default |
| Kit |
Static, Strong |
Full (HM) |
Native |
Option type |
Yes |
| F# |
Static, Strong |
Full (HM) |
Native |
Opt-in |
No |
| OCaml |
Static, Strong |
Full (HM) |
Native |
Option type |
Yes |
| Haskell |
Static, Strong |
Full (HM) |
Native |
Maybe type |
Yes |
| Roc |
Static, Strong |
Full (HM) |
Native |
No null |
Yes |
| Rust |
Static, Strong |
Local |
Native |
Option type |
Yes |
| Swift |
Static, Strong |
Local |
Enums |
Optionals |
No |
| Go |
Static, Strong |
Local |
No |
nil exists |
No |
| Gleam |
Static, Strong |
Full (HM) |
Native |
Option type |
Yes |
| Elixir |
Dynamic, Strong |
None |
Tagged tuples |
nil exists |
Yes |
| Python |
Dynamic, Strong |
None |
Manual |
None exists |
No |
Paradigm and Features
| Language |
Primary Paradigm |
Pattern Matching |
Pipe Operator |
First-Class Fns |
Traits/Typeclasses |
| Kit |
Functional |
Exhaustive |
|> |>> |
Yes |
Traits |
| F# |
Functional |
Exhaustive |
|> |
Yes |
Interfaces |
| OCaml |
Functional |
Exhaustive |
|> |
Yes |
Modules |
| Haskell |
Functional |
Exhaustive |
& (Data.Function) |
Yes |
Typeclasses |
| Roc |
Functional |
Exhaustive |
|> |
Yes |
Abilities |
| Rust |
Multi-paradigm |
Exhaustive |
No |
Yes |
Traits |
| Go |
Imperative |
No |
No |
Yes |
Interfaces |
| Gleam |
Functional |
Exhaustive |
|> |
Yes |
No |
| Elixir |
Functional |
Exhaustive |
|> |
Yes |
Protocols |
| Clojure |
Functional |
core.match |
-> ->> |
Yes |
Protocols |
| Python |
Multi-paradigm |
match (3.10+) |
No |
Yes |
Protocols |
Runtime and Compilation
| Language |
Compilation |
Memory Model |
Concurrency |
Error Handling |
Metaprogramming |
| Kit |
Native (via Zig) |
GC |
Actors/Async |
Result type + ?! |
Macros |
| F# |
JIT (.NET) |
GC |
Async/Tasks |
Result type |
No |
| OCaml |
Native/Bytecode |
GC |
Multicore |
Result type |
PPX |
| Haskell |
Native (GHC) |
GC |
STM/Async |
Maybe/Either |
Template Haskell |
| Roc |
Native (LLVM) |
RC + GC |
Planned |
Result type |
No |
| Rust |
Native (LLVM) |
Ownership |
Async/Threads |
Result type |
Macros |
| Go |
Native |
GC |
Goroutines |
Error values |
No |
| Gleam |
Bytecode (BEAM/JS) |
GC |
Actors/OTP |
Result type |
No |
| Elixir |
Bytecode (BEAM) |
GC |
Actors/OTP |
Tagged tuples |
Macros |
| Python |
Interpreted |
GC |
Async/GIL |
Exceptions |
Decorators |
| Ruby |
Interpreted |
GC |
Ractors |
Exceptions |
Metaprogram |
Legend
- Green - Full support / Yes
- Yellow - Partial support / Opt-in
- Red - No support / Not available
- HM - Hindley-Milner type inference
- GC - Garbage Collection
- ARC - Automatic Reference Counting
- RC - Reference Counting
Kit's Design Philosophy
Kit draws inspiration from several languages:
- ML family (OCaml, F#, Roc, Gleam) - Type inference, ADTs, pattern matching
- Clojure/Elixir - Pipe operators, transducers, immutability, actor model
- Rust - Result types for error handling, traits,
?! operator
- Ruby/Python - Readable syntax, developer productivity
Kit Prioritizes
- Type safety without annotation burden - Full Hindley-Milner inference means writing less while catching more errors
- Functional-first - Immutability and pure functions as defaults, rich FP primitives (map, filter, fold, scan, partition, group-by, frequencies, juxt, comp)
- Dual execution modes - Fast interpreter for development, native compilation for production
- Readable syntax - Kebab-case identifiers, minimal punctuation, significant whitespace
- Complete numeric tower - Int, Float, BigInt, BigDecimal, Rational, Complex with full operations
- Actor-based concurrency - Built-in actors, channels, and supervisors for message passing and fault tolerance
What Sets Kit Apart
- vs Rust/Go/Odin/V - Much better FP support, lazy evaluation, Option/Result handling with combinators
- vs Haskell/OCaml/F# - Native compilation without runtime, Zig FFI for easy C interop
- vs Clojure/Elixir - Static types with inference, native performance, transducers via package