Sorry, but this article starts off with an excellent example of why this is horrible: val x: String = "hello" String x = "hello" The first line reads: "

Sorry, but this article starts off with an excellent example of why this is horrible: val x: String = "hello" String x = "hello" The first line reads: "value X is of type String and contains hello" The second line reads: "String x contains hello" val and : are fluff and add nothing. Arguments about it being tougher to parse would have some merit if this wasn't all figured out almost 50 years ago.