I used to hate on types, largely because I had mostly learned to program in Java, where you hade to write the name of the type twice just to initialize an objec

I used to hate on types, largely because I had mostly learned to program in Java, where you hade to write the name of the type twice just to initialize an object, and just the general tendency in Java to rely on explicitly specified types everywhere. I felt that the value gained from all this extra work was minimal, so when I got into Python it felt like being unshackled from utterly pointless chains. After around 10 years of developing in Java and Python/php, I learned Haskell, and realized that types are only shackles in languages that refuse to utilize them in an efficient and useful manner (i.e. type inference instead of endless type specification or type casting at every point of mutation. And don’t even get me started on the destructive horrors of automatic/implicit type coercion..) In Haskell, types feel like the nubs on jigsaw puzzle pieces, guiding you to what (potentially) fits together, which drastically reduces the amount of programming details you need to keep in your head, so you can focus on the actual, fuzzy, real-life semantics of the system your developing.