(newbie still) compile-time checks?

[Jon Slenk]

hello,

I'm experimenting with the ping/pong code from the "Getting Started with 
Erlang" tutorial and am wondering what happens if I were to mis-spell an 
atom that is used in message passing. Are there ways to have something like 
an enumerated type of atoms, so that if I use something outside of the 
enumeration the compiler will tell me I made an error? Can Dialyzer or some 
such tool figure out these kinds of possible typographical human errors, or 
is the answer "extensive unit testing"? :-)

many thanks,
-Jon.