Re: Is strong typing worth the cost?

[jimmaureenrogers@worldnet.att.net (Jim Rogers)]

dmjones <derek@NOSPAMknosof.co.uk> wrote in message news:<Xns9201F90F50C5derekknosofcouk@62.253.162.108>...
> All,
> 
> To summarise, no new research investigating the
> cost/benefit of using strong typing has come to light.
...
> Me:  I am dealing with developers who use a weakly typed
> language.  To change existing practice I need evidence
> that it is worthwhile.  The default is weak, I am not recommending
> anything unless I have evidence one way or the other.
> 
> Jim Rogers:  What are the parameters of cost?
> 
> Me:  Money.  Developers time (original development, subsequent
> maintenance), lost business opportunities being late to market
> (finding staff with necessary skills, additional lead time in
> getting it 'more right').  Plus lots of other things.

Your answers on cost parameters are still a bit vague. "Money" is not
a cost parameter. It is a system of paying for those parameters.

You are correct in seeing that lost business opportunities produce
negative economic results for a company. It appears that you have an
underlying assumption is that weak typing is a tool to avoid lost
business opportunities. Where is the proof for that assumption? If
your business model is one
where quality and correctness have no bearing on time to market, then
why bother with finding staff with necessary skills?

Companies I have worked for in the past have had some additional cost
factors to track:
* Initial design and development
* Maintenance
* Warranty Costs (the costs arising from dealing with unhappy
customers)
* Legal Costs (patents as well as injured party litigation)
* Reuse Costs (The costs of designing for reuse as well as the costs
of
               maintaining and re-releasing reused components)
* Talent (The cost of finding, training, and retaining staff with
necessary
          skills)
* Business Infrastructure (The facilities and tools needed to produce
and
               maintain software)
* Marketing/Sales

I see no way the choice of languages has a significant impact on
Marketing/
Sales. Most sales persons would not know the differences between C,
Ada, and
Visual Basic. Weak typing is assumed by its proponents to lower the
cost
of Initial Design and Development as well as Maintenance. The Rational
study comparing C and Ada contradicts that assumption. It shows that
the
cost of using Ada is consistently one half the cost of using C for
similar
projects. The Rational study tracked development, maintenance, and 
warranty costs for software.

Jim Rogers