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Python from Wise Guy's Viewpoint

Remi Vanicat vanicat+invalid at labri.fr
Thu Oct 23 11:28:38 EDT 2003 
Pascal Costanza <costanza at web.de> writes:

> Remi Vanicat wrote:
>> Pascal Costanza <costanza at web.de> writes:
>
>>>In a statically typed language, when I write a test case that calls a
>>>specific method, I need to write at least one class that implements at
>>>least that method, otherwise the code won't compile.
>> Not in ocaml.
>> ocaml is statically typed.
>
> How does ocaml make sure that you don't get a message-not-understood
> exception at runtime then?

It make the verification when you call the test. I explain :

you could define :

let f x = x #foo

which is a function taking an object x and calling its method
foo, even if there is no class having such a method.

When sometime latter you do a :

f bar

then, and only then the compiler verify that the bar object have a foo
method.

By the way, It might give you some headache when you have made a
spelling error to a method name (because the error is not seen by the
compiler where it happen, but latter, where the function using the
wrong method is used).



-- 
Rémi Vanicat
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