For anyone that uses an ML (e.g. OCaml), Haskell or Scala, Milner was responsible for the Hindley-Milner type system and inference algorithm that sits at the foundation of these languages.
It ignited a wave of research into type theory that continues to this day, yet in many ways, Hindley-Milner is still the most significant contribution to the field.
I remember reading his original paper on polymorphic typing for my qualifiers and being struck by the elegance and approachability of his writing.
Any chance you could post some info about the paper? I've been itching to learn more about how type inferencing (especially polymorphic type inferencing) works.
It ignited a wave of research into type theory that continues to this day, yet in many ways, Hindley-Milner is still the most significant contribution to the field.
I remember reading his original paper on polymorphic typing for my qualifiers and being struck by the elegance and approachability of his writing.
Well worth a read.