Bastard! :)

Ok, you bring up good points. Let me state this point so it is clear:

PHP, Javascript and Lisp all have dynamic typing and none of them announced their dynamic type features on April 1st, 2006.

sloof lirpA.

---O

p.s. I'm hoping you can read that backwards text. I've already taken this too far. I thought my flimsy arguments had made that apparent. :-)

Php, Javascript, and Lisp have dynamic typing which is more or less the equivalent of having a Variant data type. I don't care for it much in those languages either even though I use them quite a bit. I think it would work fine for F# but why add a specific Variant data type when you already have dynmic type deduction? You don't have to declare a type in your let statements most of the time so why add a Variant to this? That and the whole can of worms that Variants open up with Joe Analyst type of developers. COM was a good idea and so was VB but look how wrong they went. I think Variants will go the same way. Good idea in theory, bad idea in practice.

Ok, Mr. Geometer. I see your point. But don't you think that variant does provide real value? Seriously, it makes it really easy to construct software really, really quickly. Generics are ok, but variants really are much easier to manipulate. Think about how well variants are implemented and how well the variant type would fit in F# for example. It would really be easy to avoid up and down casting. You just make your variables the way you like, when you like. No more thinking about it.

Also, this must be an important issue, because it is linked in Romania here:

[link:ronua.ro]

((I even got email from them saying that they are watching this development and that "we in the states" are moving too quickly for them to keep up, especially on issues in dynamic languages))

Additionally, I linked Mini-Microsoft (on my jjbresearch post) and track-backs from this post:

[link:minimsft.blogspot.com]

I'm getting traffic on that, so like Google's page ranking algorithms, traffic signifies importance. QED, variant is important and matters.

So I conclude that variant is important; dynamic typing should be in every language; it now will be in every language in .NET.

---O

p.s. I'd make further announcements on this topic regarding more findings on CIL (more stuff like "We do dynamic loading; why not dynamic typing?"), but alas, I'd have to wait until April 1st, 2007 to release that information to have a similar effect.

Variants? Dynamic typing? Ewwww just ewwww. Does anybody remember what VB6 programmers did with variants? What makes them think this time around will be any better? Oh well it's job security for the rest of us that get to salvage these retards failed projects. Variants.......really??? Generics is great, C++ templates rock beyond belief but variants? No thanks.