Proclaimed Cameron Laird from the mountaintops:

> Sure; Bruce "Mr. Java" Eckel says Python's his favorite language.
> That was last week's news.  What would you think if the former
> editor of the *C++ report* gave his
>     prediction for this decade: Keep an
>     eye on languages like Python, Ruby,
>     and Smalltalk. They are likely to
>     become extremely important.

Robert C. Martin meant two things. A> If you write wall-to-wall unit tests 
when you code, if you use a typeless language you will add bullet-proof 
features faster than if you use a statically typed language, even though 
the former has less built-in error checking at type conversion time. The 
latter supports refactoring easier.

B> The full depth of behaviors we should expect from a typeless language 
have yet to be fathomed. Ruby trumps Python in the simple matter of 
closures (imagine my shock when I discovered Python didn't have them). But 
a language "like" those might win the decade.

> I heard you wiseacres in the back there, with the, "But Python
> and Smalltalk *already* are extremely important" comment.

Many pointy-haired bosses are unaware of the former, and think 
the latter is some academic curiosity. That's why selling Java (a 
statically typed language) to these bosses was so easy.

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  Phlip                          phlip_cpp / my-deja.com
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