feat: implement better error messages with 'Did you mean?' suggestions

Add Levenshtein distance-based similarity matching for undefined
variables, unknown types, unknown effects, and unknown traits.
When a name is not found, the error now suggests similar names
within edit distance 2.

Changes:
- Add levenshtein_distance() function to diagnostics module
- Add find_similar_names() and format_did_you_mean() helpers
- Update typechecker to suggest similar names for:
  - Undefined variables
  - Unknown types
  - Unknown effects
  - Unknown traits
- Add 17 new tests for similarity matching

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
2026-02-13 09:39:26 -05:00
parent f670bd2659
commit 62be78ff99
3 changed files with 210 additions and 5 deletions

View File

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ use crate::ast::{
ImportDecl, LetDecl, Literal, LiteralKind, MatchArm, Parameter, Pattern, Program, Span,
Statement, TraitDecl, TypeDecl, TypeExpr, UnaryOp, VariantFields,
};
use crate::diagnostics::{Diagnostic, Severity};
use crate::diagnostics::{find_similar_names, format_did_you_mean, Diagnostic, Severity};
use crate::exhaustiveness::{check_exhaustiveness, missing_patterns_hint};
use crate::modules::ModuleLoader;
use crate::types::{
@@ -500,8 +500,19 @@ impl TypeChecker {
// Validate that each trait in the bounds exists
for bound in &constraint.bounds {
if !self.env.traits.contains_key(&bound.trait_name.name) {
// Find similar trait names for suggestion
let available_traits: Vec<&str> = self.env.traits.keys()
.map(|s| s.as_str())
.collect();
let suggestions = find_similar_names(&bound.trait_name.name, available_traits, 2);
let mut message = format!("Unknown trait: {}", bound.trait_name.name);
if let Some(hint) = format_did_you_mean(&suggestions) {
message.push_str(&format!(". {}", hint));
}
self.errors.push(TypeError {
message: format!("Unknown trait: {}", bound.trait_name.name),
message,
span: bound.span,
});
}
@@ -537,8 +548,19 @@ impl TypeChecker {
let effect = match self.env.lookup_effect(&handler.effect.name) {
Some(e) => e.clone(),
None => {
// Find similar effect names for suggestion
let available_effects: Vec<&str> = self.env.effects.keys()
.map(|s| s.as_str())
.collect();
let suggestions = find_similar_names(&handler.effect.name, available_effects, 2);
let mut message = format!("Unknown effect: {}", handler.effect.name);
if let Some(hint) = format_did_you_mean(&suggestions) {
message.push_str(&format!(". {}", hint));
}
self.errors.push(TypeError {
message: format!("Unknown effect: {}", handler.effect.name),
message,
span: handler.effect.span,
});
return;
@@ -595,8 +617,19 @@ impl TypeChecker {
Expr::Var(ident) => match self.env.lookup(&ident.name) {
Some(scheme) => scheme.instantiate(),
None => {
// Find similar variable names for "Did you mean?" suggestion
let available_names: Vec<&str> = self.env.bindings.keys()
.map(|s| s.as_str())
.collect();
let suggestions = find_similar_names(&ident.name, available_names, 2);
let mut message = format!("Undefined variable: {}", ident.name);
if let Some(hint) = format_did_you_mean(&suggestions) {
message.push_str(&format!(". {}", hint));
}
self.errors.push(TypeError {
message: format!("Undefined variable: {}", ident.name),
message,
span: ident.span,
});
Type::Error
@@ -1423,8 +1456,19 @@ impl TypeChecker {
// Verify the effect exists
if self.env.lookup_effect(&effect_name.name).is_none() {
// Find similar effect names for suggestion
let available_effects: Vec<&str> = self.env.effects.keys()
.map(|s| s.as_str())
.collect();
let suggestions = find_similar_names(&effect_name.name, available_effects, 2);
let mut message = format!("Unknown effect: {}", effect_name.name);
if let Some(hint) = format_did_you_mean(&suggestions) {
message.push_str(&format!(". {}", hint));
}
self.errors.push(TypeError {
message: format!("Unknown effect: {}", effect_name.name),
message,
span: effect_name.span,
});
}