Python from Wise Guy's Viewpoint

[Kenny Tilton]

Ralph Becket wrote:
> STATICALLY TYPED: the compiler carries out a proof that no value of the
> wrong type will ever be passed to a function expecting a different type,
> anywhere in the program. 

Big deal. From Robert C. Martin:

http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=4639

"I've been a statically typed bigot for quite a few years....I scoffed 
at the smalltalkers who whined about the loss of flexibility. Safety, 
after all, was far more important than flexibility -- and besides, we 
can keep our software flexible AND statically typed, if we just follow 
good dependency management principles.

"Four years ago I got involved with Extreme Programming. ...

"About two years ago I noticed something. I was depending less and less 
on the type system for safety. My unit tests were preventing me from 
making type errors. The more I depended upon the unit tests, the less I 
depended upon the type safety of Java or C++ (my languages of choice).

"I thought an experiment was in order. So I tried writing some 
applications in Python, and then Ruby (well known dynamically typed 
languages). I was not entirely surprised when I found that type issues 
simply never arose. My unit tests kept my code on the straight and 
narrow. I simply didn't need the static type checking that I had 
depended upon for so many years.

"I also realized that the flexibility of dynamically typed langauges 
makes writing code significantly easier. Modules are easier to write, 
and easier to change. There are no build time issues at all. Life in a 
dynamically typed world is fundamentally simpler.

"Now I am back programming in Java because the projects I'm working on 
call for it. But I can't deny that I feel the tug of the dynamically 
typed languages. I wish I was programming in Ruby or Python, or even 
Smalltalk.

"Does anybody else feel like this? As more and more people adopt test 
driven development (something I consider to be inevitable) will they 
feel the same way I do. Will we all be programming in a dynamically 
typed language in 2010? "

Lights out for static typing.

kenny

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