The Essence of Dynamic Typing

http://daniel.yokomizo.org/2012/05/essence-of-dynamic-typing.html

by pwpwp • 14 years ago

11 5 14 years ago

daniel.yokomizo.org

skrebbel2• 14 years ago

Nice summary. Some extra commas would've helped.

But what I really often miss in this discussion (dynamic vs static typing), and also in this article, is that statically typed languages fundamentally allow for better tool support. With modern IDEs and refactoring tools being pretty powerful weapons, this has a major impact on programmer productivity.

Of course, there is no reason why some sort of refactoring / code inspection support can't be added to dynamically typed languages, but it's certainly more difficult to make, and more error-prone.

I believe that in the next decade, this gap will widen, and that because of this, some statically typed language will be the next hip language. The current IDEs are too Windowsy for many hackers' tastes, but there is no reason for this to be so. You can have a VIM-like tool with Visual Studio-like powers.

tree_of_item2• 14 years ago

That's if you prefer tools like Visual Studio to tools like Squeak.

That is, if you prefer your tools to perform static analysis as opposed to allowing you to inspect and modify your system while it's running.

skrebbel2• 14 years ago

That's a fair point which I don't know how to counter well, mostly because I know virtually nothing about the Smalltalks of this world.

That said, how can you refactor your code while it's running? Also, is dynamic typing a requirement to get tools like Squeak to work? Or could it work equally well in statically typed languages?

VeejayRampay• 14 years ago

Small light grey code on white background. You might want to change that.

The Essence of Dynamic Typing

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