Typesafety versus Worse is Better - was Re: Fwd: is there any word processing software for the pdp11?

[Chuck Guzis]

On 12/03/2014 06:45 PM, Johnny Billquist wrote:
> This argument is so old, and so tiring.
>
> Can't we just bury it?
>
> Yes, some bugs will be caught by stronger types and more type checking.
> The same stronger type system will cause people to swear and be upset
> and try to work around it from time to time.

And yet, we have APL, which doesn't give a fig about type.  If Ada is a 
fascist, APL is a hippie.   Yet, somehow, useful work gets done with it.

I think the type thing is overblown.  However, the ability to create 
abstract types can be very useful, particularly if relations and 
operations on mixed-type expressions can be exhaustively defined.

Of course, used incorrectly, it's just another set of bugs.

--Chuck