-- Consider these defs in ML and Haskell.

object T;
object Object;

function min(l:T*) =
    if l=nil then nil
    else min_jr(l[1], l[2..#l]);

function min_jr(min_val:T, l:T*) =
    if l=nil then min_val
    else if l[1] < min_val
         then min_jr(l[1], l[2..#l])
         else min_jr(min_val, l[2..#l]);

-- Also, consider how type unsafe the preceding defs would be using Object
-- instead of type vars.

function min(l:Object*) =
    if l=nil then nil
    else min_jr(l[1], l[2..#l]);

function min_jr(min_val:Object, l:Object*) =
    if l=nil then min_val
    else if l[1] < min_val
         then min_jr(l[1], l[2..#l])
         else min_jr(min_val, l[2..#l]);

value x = min(1, 2.5, "xyz");	-- This type checks, but clearly breaks at run-
				-- time, since 2.5 < "xyz" does not work