[squeak-dev] looking for papers/anecdotes/slide-decks on variable typing vs value typing

Stephen Pair stephen at pairhome.net
Fri Apr 10 18:06:06 UTC 2009


On Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 6:17 PM, Randal L. Schwartz <merlyn at stonehenge.com>wrote:

>
> I'm giving a talk in two weeks on the advantages of value typing (aka duck
> typing or late binding) vs variable typing (aka compile-time typing or
> [ugh]
> "strong typing").  I'll certainly be drawing on my nearly-four-decade
> experience of programming, but if any of you have a favorite paper
> or slide deck or anecdote to share in this area, please point me.
> I'll make the result available under a generous license.  Thanks.


While not directly addressing the topic of static vs dynamic type checking
systems, I think the following paper by Gilad Bracha provides good insight
on the subject (and reflects his experience on the subject with Strongtalk):
http://pico.vub.ac.be/~wdmeuter/RDL04/papers/Bracha.pdf

For me, the problem with statically typed languages isn't that they have a
type checking system, it's that they have a pathetically inept and
inhibiting type checking system.

- Stephen
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