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Python Strings

Alex Martelli aleaxit at yahoo.com
Wed Sep 6 17:18:58 EDT 2000 
"Erik Max Francis" <max at alcyone.com> wrote in message
news:39B68D9D.147A5023 at alcyone.com...
    [snip]
> I think it would be a mistake to consider these pairs of words synonyms;
> strongly typed vs. weakly typed and statically typed vs. dynamically
> typed are two different (orthogonal) measures.  Python is strongly

It's unfortunate terminology, but it's definitely very widespread, and
it has been for a LONG time.  See, for example, the "Revised(5) Report
on the Algorithmic Language Scheme", e.g. at
http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/~jaffer/r5rs_3.html#SEC5
"""
Scheme has latent as opposed to manifest types. Types are associated
with values (also called objects) rather than with variables. (Some
authors refer to languages with latent types as weakly typed or
dynamically typed languages.)
"""

Although I agree with you that "_dynamically_ typed" is more
descriptive, maybe we should start talking about "latent"
types instead -- although it has good precedent, it's still
unusual enough an idiom, in everyday programming usage,
not to have inappropriate and misleading connotations:-).


Alex
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