initial draft for multi-level enums

content/multi-level-enums.md

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+---
+layout: sip
+permalink: /sips/:title.html
+stage: implementation
+status: waiting-for-implementation
+presip-thread: https://contributors.scala-lang.org/t/pre-sip-foo-bar/9999
+title: SIP-NN - Multi-Level Enums
+---
+
+# SIP: Multi-Level Enums
+
+**By: Raphael Bosshard**
+
+## History
+
+| Date       | Version            |
+| ---------- | ------------------ |
+| 2025-09-15 | Initial Draft      |
+
+
+
+## Summary
+
+This proposal adds minimal syntax to allow enums with nested enumerations, maintaining full exhaustivity checking while keeping syntax clean and intuitive.
+
+## Motivation
+
+Scala 3 introduced `enum` as a concise and type-safe way to define algebraic data types. However, it currently supports only flat enums. Many real-world use cases, such as domain modeling or UI state machines, naturally require **hierarchical enums**, where cases are grouped into logical families or categories.
+
+Consider modeling animals:
+
+```scala
+enum Animal:
+  case Dog, Cat, Sparrow, Penguin
+```
+
+This flat structure works, but grouping `Dog` and `Cat` under `Mammal`, and `Sparrow` and `Penguin` under `Bird` is more expressive and enables cleaner abstraction.
+
+
+## Proposed solution
+
+### High-level overview
+
+Allow `enum` cases to contain **nested `enum` definitions**, using a consistent indentation-based syntax.
+
+```scala
+enum Animal:
+  case enum Mammal:
+    case Dog, Cat
+  case enum Bird:
+    case Sparrow, Pinguin
+```
+
+Each nested `enum` case defines a group of related subcases. The **nested enum is itself a valid case** of the parent enum, and its members are **also valid cases**, allowing full exhaustivity and pattern matching.
+
+### Specification
+
+#### Enum Definition:
+
+```scala
+enum Animal:
+  case enum Mammal:
+    case Dog, Cat
+  case enum Bird:
+    case Sparrow, Pinguin
+  case Fish
+```
+
+- `case enum Mammal:` introduces a **sub-enum case**.
+- Nested cases (`Dog`, `Cat`) are **automatically part of the parent enum** (`Animal`), as well as part of the sub-enum (`Mammal`).
+
+#### Desugaring / Type Relationships
+
+The above syntax desugars to an enum tree with subtype relationships:
+
+```scala
+sealed trait Animal
+
+object Animal:
+  sealed trait Mammal extends Animal
+  object Mammal:
+    case object Dog extends Mammal 
+    case object Cat extends Mammal
+
+  sealed trait Bird extends Animal
+  object Bird:
+   case object Sparrow extends Bird
+   case object Pinguin extends Bird
+  case object FIsh extends Animal
+```
+
+Results in:
+
+- `Mammal` and `Bird` are singleton enum cases of `Animal`
+- `Dog`, `Cat`, `Sparrow`, and `Pinguin` are **also** values of `Animal`, and they belong to `Mammal` and `Bird` respectively
+- Type relationships:
+  - `Dog <: Mammal <: Animal`
+  - `Cat <: Mammal <: Animal`
+  - `Fish <: Animal`
+  - etc.
+
+All leaf cases are usable as values of `Animal`, and the nested grouping allows matching at any level of the hierarchy.
+
+
+#### Pattern Matching
+
+Exhaustive pattern matching on `Animal` must cover all leaf cases:
+
+```scala
+def classify(a: Animal): String = a match
+  case Dog     => "a dog"
+  case Cat     => "a cat"
+  case Sparrow => "a bird"
+  case Pinguin => "a penguin"
+  case Fish    => "a fish"
+```
+
+Matching on intermediate enums is also allowed:
+
+```scala
+def isWarmBlooded(a: Animal): Boolean = a match
+  case Mammal => true     // Covers Dog, Cat
+  case Bird   => true     // Covers Sparrow, Pinguin
+  case Fish   => false
+```
+
+Matching on a **supercase** (e.g., `Mammal`) is shorthand for matching all its subcases.
+
+#### `values`, `ordinal`, `valueOf`
+
+- `Animal.values` returns all **leaf cases**: `[Dog, Cat, Sparrow, Pinguin, Fish]`
+- `Mammal.values` returns `[Dog, Cat]`
+- `Mammal.ordinal` and `Mammal.valueOf(...)` are also available
+- `Mammal` and `Bird` are usable as enum **values**, but excluded from `values` (unless explicitly included)
+
+
+#### Sealed-ness and Exhaustivity
+
+- The parent enum and all nested enums are sealed.
+- Pattern matching at any level (e.g. on `Mammal`) is **exhaustive** at that level.
+- At the top level (`Animal`), exhaustivity means all leaf cases must be covered.
+
+#### Reflection / Enum APIs
+
+- `Animal.values`: All leaf values (`Dog`, `Cat`, `Sparrow`, etc.)
+- Each nested `case enum` (e.g., `Mammal`) gets its own `.values`, `.ordinal`, and `.valueOf` API.
+- `ordinal` value of leaves are global to the supercase  (e.g., `Dog.ordinal == 0`, `Cat.ordinal == 1`, etc.)
+
+#### Syntax Specification (EBNF-like)
+
+```
+EnumDef         ::= 'enum' Id ':' EnumBody
+EnumBody        ::= { EnumCase }
+EnumCase        ::= 'case' EnumCaseDef
+EnumCaseDef     ::= Ids
+                 | 'enum' Id ':' EnumBody
+Ids             ::= Id {',' Id}
+```
+
+
+#### Compiler
+
+- The Scala compiler must treat nested enums inside `case enum` as part of the parent enum’s namespace.
+- Exhaustivity checking logic must recursively analyze nested enums to extract leaf cases.
+- Type relationships must be modeled to reflect subtyping: e.g. `Dog <: Mammal <: Animal`.
+
+
+#### Examples
+
+#### Example 1: Basic Structure
+
+```scala
+enum Shape:
+  case enum Polygon:
+    case Triangle, Square
+
+  case enum Curve:
+    case Circle
+
+  case Point
+```
+
+
+### Compatibility
+- Fully backwards compatible: does not affect existing flat enums.
+- Adds optional expressiveness.
+- Libraries using `enum` APIs (e.g., `values`) will continue to function with leaf-only views.
+- Mirrors and macros
+
+### Other Concerns
+
+#### Macro / Tooling Support
+
+- IDEs and macros need to understand the nested structure.
+- Pattern matching hints and auto-completion should support matching on intermediate cases.
+
+
+### Feature Interactions
+
+
+### Alternatives
+
+- **Flat enums with traits**: more verbose, less exhaustivity checking, more boilerplate.
+- **Nested cases with `extends`**: heavier syntax, harder to teach/read.
+- **DSLs or macros**: non-standard, cannot integrate with Scala's `enum` semantics cleanly.
+
+
+## Related Work
+
+
+## Faq
+
+