Why does the compiler happily compile code with non-existing methods?

[ghost]

It was only when I ran the compiled program and saw an exception thrown in my face that I realized I had used a non-existent method. There wasn't even a single warning at compile time. Why?

[arakov]

ELENA is a dynamic language so it is expected behavior. You can send any message to any object. But still it is possible to get warning in that case. To do it you have to use strong-typed variables / fields / parameters.

Here an example:

A;

public program()
{
   A a := new A();

   a.test()
}

The output is:

ELENA Command-line compiler 6.7.277 (C)2005-2025 by Aleksey Rakov, ELENA-LANG Org

Project: sandbox, Platform: Win_x86, Target type: STA Console
Cleaning up
Parsing sandbox.l
Compiling sandbox
sandbox.l(7:6): warning 407: Message 'test' is not handled by the object
.
saving sandbox

Successfully compiled
Linking..
Successfully linked

So there is a warning. But if your declare a weak variable:

public program()
{
   var a := new A();

   a.test()
}

There will be no warning

In general, you have to use var only if you need a weak type. Otherwise you can use either explicit type of auto

public program()
{
   auto a := new A(); // there will be a warning

   a.test()
}