Generics

Generics let you write one function or struct that works across multiple concrete types. Instead of copying the same shape for Int, String, and other values, you parameterize the definition once and reuse it.

Generic structs and functions

Tea uses square brackets for type parameters. You will see them on both struct definitions such as Box[T] and function definitions such as def identity[T](...).

struct Box[T] {
  value: T
}

def identity[T](value: T) -> T
  return value
end

const a = identity[Int](42)
const b = identity[String]("tea")
const boxed = Box[String](value: "leaf")

@println(a)
@println(b)
@println(boxed.value)

In day-to-day code, generics are most useful when the logic stays the same but the concrete type changes. That applies to wrappers, containers, and small reusable helpers.