On Dec 9, 12:54 pm, Todd Benson <caduce... / gmail.com> wrote:
> On Dec 9, 2007 11:39 AM, Dumaiu <Dym... / gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Dec 9, 12:19 pm, Todd Benson <caduce... / gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> >     To be fair, it has to be said that it is less of a problem in
> > languages that require variables to be declared or typed.
>
> Hmm.  Maybe, but I kind of doubt it.  var temp is no more or less
> succinct than anything else.  It doesn't guarantee you "safeness".
> Safeness is what databases are for.  Pre-declaration is sort of an
> empty promise in flow-control.

	Do you really, truly believe this?  I'm going to argue this point.
I'm not saying that predeclaration is innately good: the
disadvantages, whatever they be, might outweigh the advantages.  The
only 'promise' I can see it making is that the kind of error that
started this discussion will be less likely.  After writing

	var list = create_useful_list

writing

	liist = modify_list

will report an error.  Actually, because it is more succinct.  My
reasoning is as follows: if someone thinks declarations are merely
pointless, he might not use them himself but won't object to others
using them.  If he objects on principle, it's because he thinks they
clutter the code.  Performance aside, declarations are disliked
because they take up space and are annoying to write.  They're
annoying to write because it takes extra effort; the extra effort
makes it less likely that it'll happen by accident.  It doesn't
'guarantee you "safeness,"' it just guarantees you a little more
safety.

	-Jonathan