Invasion Of The Dynamic Language Weenies

Invasion Of The Dynamic Language Weenies is an analysis of a recent IEEE Computer article called Developers Shift to Dynamic Programming Languages by Linda Dailey Paulson.

Dynamic languages (DLs) such as Perl, Python and Ruby is all the rage these days. All the kids are using it and if you don't you are just not cool enough. This is off course not a good enough reason to use DLs for your application. Hacknot looks at the claims of productivity by DL proponents. Is there anything special in DLs that makes these claims true or is it just hype?

From experience, it seems like a lot of the productivity gain of a language comes down to the support provided by the standard libraries and the community, and less the language features themselves. It should also be clear that certain languages are more suited for specific problems.

I don't think we will have clear answers on the many issues between dynamic and statically typed languages anytime soon, but in the meantime we should encourage and promote good science and experimentation to better pin-point the advantages of a certain language over another.

Also check out the free Hacknot Book.