What is the difference between Go's type-level computation and value-level computation for creating and using types and values in Go programs?
In Go, type-level computation and value-level computation are two different approaches to working with types and values.
Type-level computation refers to operations that are performed on types themselves, rather than on values of those types. This can include operations like type concatenation, type arithmetic, and type comparisons. These operations are evaluated by the Go compiler at compile time, and the results are used to determine the types of variables, functions, and other program elements.
Value-level computation, on the other hand, refers to operations that are performed on actual values of types, rather than on the types themselves. This can include operations like addition, subtraction, comparison, and logical operations. These operations are evaluated at runtime, when the program is actually running.
The key difference between type-level computation and value-level computation is that the former operates on types themselves, while the latter operates on values of those types. This means that type-level computation is typically used for things like creating and manipulating new types, whereas value-level computation is used for performing computations on actual data.
In summary, type-level computation is used to create and manipulate types at compile time, while value-level computation is used to perform computations on actual data at runtime.