Could Python supplant Java?

[laotseu]

Tom Davies wrote:
> David Brown wrote:
> 
[snip]
> 
> 
> 
>>    2) Java has strongly typed variables that are declared before use,
>>Python has run-time typing and variables are defined as needed.  Each
>>system has its advantages and disadvantages.
> 
> 
> That would kill Python for me. I like compile time type-checking.
> 

I used to think the same (what about VB's 'variant' ? yuk !)... But 
python's dynamic typing has got me, specially in the case of oo 
programming. It makes polymorphism a really simple thing.

IMHO, compile time type-checking is a nice safety net, but if you get a 
type error at compilation, it still means you made a mistake. BTW, even 
in C, you can have type error when casting a void*, and you don't have 
any info about the original type of the pointeur. Dynamic typing doesn't 
means Python is not *strongly* typed.

laotseu