Could Python supplant Java?

[Robert Hanlin]

joeking at merseymail.com (FISH) wrote...
> > IMHO, compile time type-checking is a nice safety net, but if you get a 
> > type error at compilation, it still means you made a mistake. 
> 
> Yes, but the error is flagged in compilation, as opposed to
> five weeks after the product ships, when it crops up in a bug
> report from a customer.

The compile-time checking argument is an old chestnut in many
flamewars before, and will be for many flamewars after.  Still, many
people live using powerful languages like Lisp, where you don't need
to declare types.

I hate Java the language.  But Java the environment rocks.  You see,
tediously declaring ints and Integers leads to a whole raft of those
compile-time bugs.  Of course you're going to type one of these wrong!
 Programming in Java is not about programming, but about remembering
rules, and cutting & pasting.  You have to program in Python
differently.  If you try programming Python in a Java style, you'll
get bitten.  You'll be lazy with types, because you normally let your
compiler catch them.

Robert