> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://trizen.gitbook.io/sidef-lang/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://trizen.gitbook.io/sidef-lang/syntax_and_semantics/subsets.md).

# Subsets

A subset is a definition which specifies the upper limit of inheritance, with optional argument validation.

```ruby
subset Integer     < Number  { |n| n.is_int }
subset Natural     < Integer { |n| n.is_pos }
subset EvenNatural < Natural { |n| n.is_even }

func foo(n < EvenNatural) {
     say n
}

foo(42)         # ok
foo(43)         # failed assertion at run-time
```

In some sense, a subset is the opposite of a type. For example, let's consider the following class hierarchy:

```ruby
class Hello(name) {
    method greet { say "Hello, #{self.name}!" }
}

class Hi < Hello {
    method greet { say "Hi, #{self.name}!" }
}

class Hey < Hi {
    method greet { say "Hey, #{self.name}!" }
}
```

If we declare a function that accepts a subset of `Hi`, it will accept `Hello`, but it cannot accept `Hey`:

```ruby
func greet(obj < Hi) { obj.greet }       # `Hi` is the upper limit

greet(Hi("Foo"))        # ok
greet(Hello("Bar"))     # ok
greet(Hey("Baz"))       # fail: `Hey` is too evolved
```

On the other hand, if we use `Hi` as a type assertion, it will accept `Hey`, but not `Hello`:

```ruby
func greet(Hi obj) { obj.greet }         # `Hi` is the lower limit

greet(Hi("Foo"))        # ok
greet(Hey("Baz"))       # ok
greet(Hello("Bar"))     # fail: `Hello` is too primitive
```

Subsets can also be used for combining multiple types into one type, creating an union type:

```ruby
subset StrNum < String, Number

func concat(a < StrNum, b < StrNum) {
    a + b
}

say concat("o", "k")       # ok
say concat(13, 29)         # 42
say concat([41], [42])     # runtime error
```


---

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