9: Looking at Data Types From Both Sides

We talk about data types and their importance in software development. Modern dynamic languages hide type information from you but it's still there, under the hood. Statically-typed languages, on the other hand, bring types right out in front of you. What are the fundamental types and why are they important? What about user defined types and aggregate types?

Join us as we dive right in and try to explain it all. In most episodes, one of us (we alternate) has knowledge or does research and presents the most helpful information they can, while the other asks questions. This episode is mostly Jim, but more a combined effort than usual.

Takeaways

• The CPU knows about (let’s call them “atomic”)  types and has instructions that apply to them
• Languages know about types BEYOND what the CPU knows and provide operations beyond what the CPU can do
• In Strictly typed languages, the compiler can catch a whole suite of bugs that you may not catch in a dynamic language until runtime. (because you made a promise, and then you broke it)
• You can build your own types that are vastly more complicated than the CPU or Language provide

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Jim McQuillan can be reached at jam@RuntimeArguments.fm
Wolf can be reached at wolf@RuntimeArguments.fm

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Theme music:
Dawn by nuer self, from the album Digital Sky