> Basically I think what you're describing about Java is a mixture of mid-strength static typing and relatively strong dynamic typing. At least, that's how I'd

> Basically I think what you're describing about Java is a mixture of mid-strength static typing and relatively strong dynamic typing. At least, that's how I'd describe it. For me, the real payoff of using a static type system is enforcing the invariants I care about. In other words, a type system is a tool that partially relieves me of my proof obligation as a programmer. A “type system” that doesn't do this is just annoying ceremony. So, if we insist on calling type systems “strong” and “weak”, this is still a binary question: a type system is either capable (“strong”) or incapable (“weak”) of expressing what I want to express in a crisp, elegant, crystal clear way. From this point of view, Java is just as unacceptable as C, perhaps even more so, because C at least has the decency not to pretend it has much of a type system. OTOH, it seems that, to you, and perhaps most programmers, a type system is merely a tool for preventing catastrophic errors. If that's your only goal, then turning catastrophic errors (say, memory corruption) into less catastrophic ones (say, raising exceptions everywhere) is a perfectly valid approach, and of course Java is “more strongly typed” than C. This can be useful or harmful, depending on what kind of program you're writing, but I refuse to call it a type system.