In a dynamic language, why % operator asks user for type info?

[Karthik Gurusamy]

Hi,

The string format operator, %, provides a functionality similar to the
snprintf function in C. In C, the function does not know the type of
each of the argument and hence relies on the embedded %<char>
specifier to guide itself while retrieving args.

In python, the language already provides ways to know the type of an
object.

So in

output = '%d foo %d bar" % (foo_count, bar_count),
why we need to use %d? I'm thinking some general common placeholder,
say %x (currently it's hex..) could be used.

output = '%x foo %x bar" % (foo_count, bar_count).
Since % by definition is string formatting, the operator should be
able to infer how to convert each of the argument into strings.

If the above is the case, we could've avoided all those exceptions
that happen when a %d is specified but say a string is passed.

Thanks,
Karthik