# STRONG dynamic typing favors tools..? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [January 7, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/strong-dynamic-typing-favors-tools/125266 "2008-01-07T16:39:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Papas](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@John\_Papas](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/John_Papas)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/strong-dynamic-typing-favors-tools/125266/1 "2008-01-07T16:39:34Z")
One of the things I like about languages like Java is that since it is statically typed I get tools that assist me when I write code, for example if I misspell a function name. What I really hate about dynamic languages is that, for example in JavaScript if I misspell something there is no tool to find it and no (deterministic) test locate this bug. I could actually deploy and find the mispelled name only when I get its use case. Does the fact that Ruby is STRONG dynaically typed, assist tool developers? Can I have tools with minimal analysis capabilities? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Papas](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@John\_Papas](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/John_Papas)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/strong-dynamic-typing-favors-tools/125266/2 "2008-01-07T17:20:30Z")
Ruby In Steel Developer analyzes code as it is written to provide correct code completion (IntelliSense). You can also add optional ‘type assertions’ in comment blocks to provide extra typing information for parameter completion. More info here: [http://www.sapphiresteel.com/Ruby-In-Steel-Developer-Overview](http://www.sapphiresteel.com/Ruby-In-Steel-Developer-Overview) best wishes Huw SapphireSteel Software Ruby and Rails In Visual Studio [http://www.sapphiresteel.com](http://www.sapphiresteel.com) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Papas](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@John\_Papas](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/John_Papas)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/strong-dynamic-typing-favors-tools/125266/3 "2008-01-07T16:55:57Z")
John Papas wrote: > developers? Can I have tools with minimal analysis capabilities? > NetBeans warns you about many of the “usual” cases of misspelling and > coding errors in Ruby. (Be aware that all types of checks are not > enabled out of the box. Look at the tutorials to get a feeling of what’s > available.) There seems to be other editors around with intelligent code > parsing as well. Best regards, Jari W. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Papas](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@John\_Papas](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/John_Papas)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/strong-dynamic-typing-favors-tools/125266/4 "2008-01-07T18:03:38Z")
John Papas: > What I really hate about dynamic languages is that, for example in > JavaScript if I misspell something there is no tool to find it and > no (deterministic) test locate this bug. The idea behind unit testing is that they catch such things for you. Better yet, Test- (or Behaviour-) Driven Development means your code does what it’s asked to do, so it doesn’t really matter if there are any misspellings inside or not. – Shot ---
**Author:** ![John\_Papas](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@John\_Papas](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/John_Papas)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/strong-dynamic-typing-favors-tools/125266/5 "2008-01-07T18:33:43Z")
On Jan 7, 2008, at 10:03 AM, Shot (Piotr S.) wrote: > > What I really hate about dynamic languages is that, for example in > > JavaScript if I misspell something there is no tool to find it and > > no (deterministic) test locate this bug. it’s a bit tangental, but you really shouldn’t be spelling anything if you are comfortable with your editor - at least not more than once. for instance, in vim, after i say something like foobar = 42 i would just type fo and the foobar var is auto completed in much the same way as the shell auto completes. it’s extremely rare that i would actually spell out any var longer than two chars. using this technique i find that i rarely, perhaps once per month, make a spelling error that causes me an issue. regards. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Papas](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@John\_Papas](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/John_Papas)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2008, 6:53am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/strong-dynamic-typing-favors-tools/125266/6 "2008-01-08T06:53:02Z")
Shot (Piotr S.) wrote: > John Papas: > > > What I really hate about dynamic languages is that, for example in > > JavaScript if I misspell something there is no tool to find it and > > no (deterministic) test locate this bug. > > The idea behind unit testing is that they catch such things for you. > Better yet, Test- (or Behaviour-) Driven Development means your code > does what it’s asked to do, so it doesn’t really matter if there are > any misspellings inside or not. Ah, but then there’s “heckle”. Heckle inserts random bugs in your code, and if your tests don’t catch them, then the tests aren’t sufficient. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Papas](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@John\_Papas](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/John_Papas)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/strong-dynamic-typing-favors-tools/125266/7 "2008-01-08T15:45:36Z")
John Papas wrote: > One of the things I like about languages like Java is that since it is > statically typed I get tools that assist me when I write code, for > example if I misspell a function name. This doesn’t actually have anything to do with Java being statically typed. > What I really hate about dynamic languages is that, for example in > JavaScript if I misspell something there is no tool to find it […] Again, this doesn’t actually have anything to do with the dynamic nature of those languages. In fact, pretty much all of the features that are now associated with IDEs for static languages, were invented in Smalltalk IDEs: code completion, class browsers, automated refactoring tools, automated unit testing. The _only_ reason for the differences between IDEs for static and dynamic languages is money: the Eclipse Java Development Tools are developed by dozens of highly paid full-time engineers with million dollar research budgets by IBM, Oracle, BEA etc. The Eclipse Ruby Development Tools were developed by a couple of hobbyists in their spare time, without getting paid, with no research budget at all, and even without knowing Eclipse programming. > Does the fact that Ruby is STRONG dynaically typed, assist tool > developers? Can I have tools with minimal analysis capabilities? Pretty much all current Ruby IDEs (RDT, DLTK, 3rd Rail, NetBeans, Ruby in Steel) have code completion, type inference, automated refactoring tools and a lot of the things you would expect from a modern IDE. But, again, this doesn’t have anything to do with Ruby being “strongly typed”, it has to do with Ruby being high on the hype curve and companies like Sun, CodeGear, Sapphire Steel and Aptana investing money in Ruby IDEs. jwm