I don't like about Java and C++ (Static typing is just wrong!

Java and C++ are not really statically typed, in that they allow casts, in fact they require casts. This means that type errors can occur at runtime, which is exactly what static typing is supposed to prevent. Have a read MJD's excellent talk? You should read some ML or Haskell, you don't have get into monads to appreciate a lot of Haskell's typing system. I'm not even sure if I correctly understand monads because I haven't ever tried to write anything in Haskell but I can still appreciate what real static typing (with type inference so that you don't have keep telling the compiler things it could work out for itself) can do.

I think it's cecil that brings another rather cool feature to static typing, it lets you get it wrong but still compiles your code (issuing warnings of course). This allows you to experiment with your classes as in a dynamic language without having to rewrite half your code just to get it to compile.

So yes, Java and C++'s static typing is absolutely wrong but it's not really static typing.

In reply to Re^4: (OT) "Learn one new language every year"? Yeah, right. by fergal
in thread (OT) "Learn one new language every year"? Yeah, right. by FoxtrotUniform

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