How do you check for the type of variable in Elixir

Question

In Elixir how do you check for type such as in Python:

>>> a = \"test\"
>>> type(a)

>>> b =10
>>> type(b         


        

Answer 1

There's no direct way to get the type of a variable in Elixir/Erlang.

You usually want to know the type of a variable in order to act accordingly; you can use the is_* functions in order to act based on the type of a variable.

Learn You Some Erlang has a nice chapter about typing in Erlang (and thus in Elixir).

The most idiomatic way to use the is_* family of functions would probably be to use them in pattern matches:

def my_fun(arg) when is_map(arg), do: ...
def my_fun(arg) when is_list(arg), do: ...
def my_fun(arg) when is_integer(arg), do: ...
# ...and so on