This "unit tests substitute for static types" is a common straw man. Asserts catch similar kinds of bugs to static type checkers with a similar level of effecti

This "unit tests substitute for static types" is a common straw man. Asserts catch similar kinds of bugs to static type checkers with a similar level of effectiveness and cost. Moreover, they're typically able to do more sophisticated checks than most languages (e.g. similar to the kind of sophistication of Haskell's type system). (yes, I know what is going to be replied... IME, they actually fail in prod vanishingly rarely)