Here's my feeling on it (note that I am talking about languages from the C family, not Haskell or ML).
1. Like Jason Wolfe said, the interactive REPL means that you can manually test a function as soon as you're done writing it, so it's easy to get feedback and know if something breaks. 2. The whole thing does not need to be complete or even functional for you to start unit testing. 3. The type systems of Java, C and C++ do not protect you against errors like NullPointerExceptions. (I am pretty sure C# has nullable types now, and of course Haskell has Maybe t.) 4. Not having the static type system means that if it's ever needed, it will be possible for you to do what you know is right instead of what the compiler wants. Try it, test a lot, use the REPL and you'll probably find that the problem is not as bad as one may think. Nevertheless, I'd like to mention that I'm also a fan of static typing and that to this day, I still don't know whether I prefer the freedom and flexibility of dynamic typing or the constraint and safety of static typing. Be safe, Vincent. On Mar 10, 1:16 am, zoltar <cur...@stanfordcomputing.com> wrote: > Hey everyone. I've been keeping up with developments in Clojure for a > few months now and have a question for all you long-time static typers > out there (I know you're there :) > > I really like what I read about Clojure and LISP in general and can > see the potential for great power and flexibility. I know the > advantages/disadvantages of static vs dynamic languages but I can't > help feeling like I'm losing something whenever I try Clojure. I am > admittedly brainwashed after years of C, C++ and Java but I miss the > warm fuzzies when I know the compiler has checked all the types for me > and I don't have to worry about a whole class of run-time errors. I'm > willing to give that up for the advantages Clojure gives me but I was > wondering how others have dealt with the loss of these static warm > fuzzies. I always feel a bit lost in Clojure, not knowing what types a > function expects or what it will return. I suppose this goes away in > time but any advice is appreciated. > > Curtis --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Clojure" group. To post to this group, send email to clojure@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/clojure?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
