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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!eagle!mhuxl!cbosgd!mark
From: mark@cbosgd.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.lang
Subject: Re: Strong Typing and Ignorance
Message-ID: <718@cbosgd.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 7-Dec-83 11:48:47 EST
Article-I.D.: cbosgd.718
Posted: Wed Dec  7 11:48:47 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 9-Dec-83 08:22:33 EST
References: <2892@utcsrgv.UUCP>, <137@csd1.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus
Lines: 17

In my view, languages are classified as follows:

Statically typed (a strongly typed language is a very picky
statically typed language - how strong is how picky the compilers
are able to be) means that the type of a variable is determined
at compile time, and each variable can have only one type stored
in it (although that type might be a union).  This includes Pascal,
Ada, and C.

Dynamically typed languages have the types determined at runtime,
this includes APL, Snobol, and Lisp.  The runtime system will make
any reasonable translations between types automatically.

Untyped languages do not keep track of types - everything is generally
of type "word", and it is up to the programmer to keep everything straight.
This includes Bliss and most assembly languages.  If you mess up a type,
you'll usually get garbage.