Re: Is strong typing worth the cost?

[Darren New <dnew@san.rr.com>]

"Chad R. Meiners" wrote:
> One can easily construct examples where the strong typing
> systems costs less.  Can you construct an example where it costs more?

Perhaps one where requirements are changing almost as fast as you can
keep up. Here I'm thinking of the XP techniques, which I think the OP
would probably classify as not strongly typed, even tho I expect most
programming language experts would classify Smalltalk as strongly typed.
:-)

> If you want to write DIFFERENT programs (one with strong typing the others
> without), how can you compare the costs of strong typing against the cost of
> weak typing?

You figure the cost of everything it takes to write the program that
meets the requirements under realistic requirements. Sometimes strong
typing will be better (like, when you're launching a space ship).
Sometimes dynamic typing will be better (like, when you're tracking
government regulations about payroll).

-- 
Darren New 
San Diego, CA, USA (PST). Cryptokeys on demand.
   The 90/10 rule of toothpaste: the last 10% of 
         the tube lasts as long as the first 90%.