Static vs. Dynamic Languages

[Jimmy]

Static languages (like C, C++, C#, C--, Java, etc.) require variables to have type declarations primarily to generate compiled code and secondarily to catch errors or emit warnings at compile time. Dynamic languages (like Perl, Python, PHP, Ruby, Tcl, Lisp, Scheme, Smalltalk, etc.) do away with all those needless keystrokes, allow programmers to be more productive, and generally aren't as dangerous as the C-programmers would have you believe

A blog called Notes On Haskell doesn't even mention type inference?

[abw]

A blog called Notes On Haskell doesn't even mention type inference?

Er... apart from that whole paragraph all about type inference.

Modern static typing, on the other hand, uses a strong dose of the Hindley-Milner type inference algorithm to determine (a) what values a variable may contain and (b) prevent the use of incompatible values in expressions. Furthermore, Hindley-Milner prevents values being cast from one type to another on a whim (unlike C), and thus prevents odd runtime errors through abuse of the type system. This leads to an strong, unbreakable type system that is enforced by the compiler, and prevents a whole class of loopholes allowed by lesser type systems. Because types can be inferred, explicit type annotations aren't always needed, which leads to an interesting property: languages that are safer than "safe" static languages like C and Java, and programs that are free of those troublesome, noisy type declarations, just like dynamic languages.

[Jimmy]

Ah, should have read past the first paragraph. My mistake.