well the article was called "java.next()"

But why not have the best of both worlds?  Static typing/type
inference.  Optional dynamic typing where it makes sense.  Mirah, and
Fantom do this.

On Sun, May 8, 2011 at 2:19 AM, Russel Winder <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Sat, 2011-05-07 at 13:25 -0600, phil swenson wrote:
> [ . . . ]
>> *BUT* I don't think it's java.next.  If groovy had decided to do
>> static typing way back when I think it would already be java.next (w/
>> optional dynamic typing).  But they didn't so it's simply too slow...
>>  and a dynamically typed language will never have the quality of IDE
>> tooling that Java enjoys.  Just isn't doable.
>
> Why should Groovy even try to market itself as java.next?  The whole
> point of Groovy is to provide a dynamic symbiote to Java (or any other
> language on the JVM that creates class files, Scala, Clojure, Groovy++,
> Fantom, etc.)
>
> Groovy cannot do static typing because it has a full runtime meta-object
> protocol, any type checking there is has to happen at runtime.   It will
> always therefore execute relatively slowly compared to fully compiled
> languages.  I don't consider this a blot or black mark, it is a feature.
> Groovy++ is interesting as it bridges the divide providing static typing
> and compilation leading to speed.  But some capabilities are lost --
> whilst others are gained.  That is the whole point, there is no single
> winner in the static vs dynamic warfare, each approach has properties
> and capabilities.  These apply more in certain cases leading to
> decisions about which language to use in which parts of which systems.
>
> I have to admit whenever I see threads trying to argue "dynamic is
> better than static" or "static is better than dynamic" as an abstract
> absolute, I stop reading and delete.
>
> --
> Russel.
> =============================================================================
> Dr Russel Winder      t: +44 20 7585 2200   voip: sip:[email protected]
> 41 Buckmaster Road    m: +44 7770 465 077   xmpp: [email protected]
> London SW11 1EN, UK   w: www.russel.org.uk  skype: russel_winder
>

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