> So year, static typing doesn't buy you much, but in some languages it's at least cheap. I think this is key. The benefit of static typing isn't that they pro

> So year, static typing doesn't buy you much, but in some languages it's at least cheap. I think this is key. The benefit of static typing isn't that they provide safety, it's that they provide _low-cost_ safety. For a large class of problems, types are cheaper than tests are. For other classes, tests are cheaper than types. The main downside of nonstatic languages is that you have to use tests for everything, even that class where types are a better choice.