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From: amanda@visix.com (Amanda Walker)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc,comp.object
Subject: Re: Type Systems and Dynamic Binding
Message-ID: <1991Apr17.173651.23103@visix.com>
Date: 17 Apr 91 17:36:51 GMT
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	<27313:Apr1623:30:0391@kramden.acf.nyu.edu>
	<1991Apr16.183750@ece.arizona.edu>
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In article <1991Apr16.183750@ece.arizona.edu> dan@ece.arizona.edu (Dan
Filiberti) writes:

   And, no matter how much you insist, C DOES NOT SUPPORT DYNAMIC
   TYPING.  Period.

Lisp supports dynamic typing.  Lisp can be interpreted by, or
translated into, C.  Therefore, C supports dynamic typing.  QED.

Now, you can argue that the C language does not *include* dynamic
typing.  I don't think anyone here would disagree with you there.
However, you can certainly *implement* dynamic typing in C, with as
low an overhead as you can get in any other language.

   The whole point of having dynamic typing is reusability of code.  And, if
   I wanted to reuse the modules you have written,

That's portability, not reusability.  Dynamic typing can be just as useful
when I want to reuse my own code as when you want to reuse it.  And if
you want to reuse my code, you have to use whatever framework I wrote it
in anyway.

   I'd have to use your
   interface...what makes you think that I would want to do that!

That's a red herring.  The interface is always fixed, whether its
explicit or implicit in the language used.  I will agree that implicit
support helps portability.

   1.  Dynamic Typing is easily and readily available, done the same way
	   every time.

OK so far...

   2.  If you don't want to use dynamic typing, then DON'T.  C++ doesn't
	   force you to do anything, just write C if you want.

So why bother with C++, then?  I don't follow you...  Either you're going
to use C++ features, in which case using C++ is a good idea, or you're not,
in which case it's silly.  You can't have it both ways...

--
Amanda Walker						      amanda@visix.com
Visix Software Inc.					...!uunet!visix!amanda
-- 
"How can I worry about your miserable violin when I am speaking to my God?"
		--Beethoven