Below is an answer explaining Dynamic vs. Static Typing.
I'm confused why this demonstrates Dynamic vs. Static typing as I thought all errors for compiled languages are caught during compilation anyway so it wouldn't matter whether it's statically or dynamically typed.
Maybe this is demonstrating that statically typed languages always raise errors before running and dynamic typing will always raise errors during execution regardless of it being compiled or interpreted?
Can someone explain this more in depth?
Here is an example contrasting how Python (dynamically typed) and Go (statically typed) handle a type error:
def silly(a): if a > 0: print 'Hi' else: print 5 + '3'
Python does type checking at run time, and therefore:
silly(2)
Runs perfectly fine, and produces the expected output
Hi
. Error is only raised if the problematic line is hit:silly(-1)
Produces
TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +: 'int' and 'str'
because the relevant line was actually executed.
Go on the other hand does type-checking at compile time:
package main import ("fmt" ) func silly(a int) { if (a > 0) { fmt.Println("Hi") } else { fmt.Println("3" + 5) } } func main() { silly(2) }
The above will not compile, with the following error:
invalid operation: "3" + 5 (mismatched types string and int)
No. Type errors are not caught in compilation unless the language is statically typed.
Note that compilation WILL catch syntax errors regardless of typing.
The example is confusing as it couples "Static & Compiled" with "Dynamic & Interpreted" which obscures the effects of the different type systems.
Type-checking has nothing to do with the language being compiled or interpreted!
I'll review the basic concepts, then delve deeper into the example.
"When source code is translated"
"When types are checked"
5 + '3'
is an example of a type error in strongly typed languages such as Go and Python, because they don't allow for "type coercion" -> the ability for a value to change type in certain contexts, such as merging two types. Weakly typed languages, such as JavaScript, won't throw a type error (results in '53'
).
The definitions of "Static & Compiled" and "Dynamic & Interpreted" are quite similar...but remember it's "when types are checked" vs. "when source code is translated".
You'll get the same type errors irrespective of whether the language is compiled or interpreted! You need to separate these terms conceptually.
Dynamic, Interpreted
def silly(a):
if a > 0:
print 'Hi'
else:
print 5 + '3'
silly(2)
Because Python is both interpreted and dynamically typed, it only translates and type-checks code it's executing on. The else
block never executes, so 5 + '3'
is never even looked at!
What if it was statically typed?
A type error would be thrown before the code is even run. It still performs type-checking before run-time even though it is interpreted.
What if it was compiled?
The else
block would be translated/looked at before run-time, but because it's dynamically typed it wouldn't throw an error! Dynamically typed languages don't check types until execution, and that line never executes.
Static, Compiled
package main
import ("fmt"
)
func silly(a int) {
if (a > 0) {
fmt.Println("Hi")
} else {
fmt.Println("3" + 5)
}
}
func main() {
silly(2)
}
The types are checked before running (static) and the type error is immediately caught! The types would still be checked before run-time if it was interpreted, having the same result. If it was dynamic, it wouldn't throw any errors even though the code would be looked at during compilation.
A compiled language will have better performance at run-time if it's statically typed (vs. dynamically); knowledge of types allows for machine code optimization.
Statically typed languages have better performance at run-time intrinsically due to not needing to check types dynamically while executing (it checks before running).
Similarly, compiled languages are faster at run time as the code has already been translated instead of needing to "interpret"/translate it on the fly.
Note that both compiled and statically typed languages will have a delay before running for translation and type-checking, respectively.
Static typing catches errors early, instead of finding them during execution (especially useful for long programs). It's more "strict" in that it won't allow for type errors anywhere in your program and often prevents variables from changing types, which further defends against unintended errors.
num = 2
num = '3' // ERROR
Dynamic typing is more flexible, which some appreciate. It typically allows for variables to change types, which can result in unexpected errors.