This is a constant flamewar on the ruby-talk mailing list about static v. dynamic typing, and which one is more productive. The obvious answer, neither, is hard to put into words. Or was until Steve Yegge put it into this perspective
Stevey's Blog Rants: Egomania Itself If there's one thing I've learned over the years about type systems, it's that you have your slob type systems and your neat-freak type systems, and it comes down to personal preference. The neat freaks (Java, C#, C++, Pascal) know damn well that the slobs (Perl, Python, Ruby, JavaScript) are just as productive. Maybe even more so. Nobody really knows for sure. One thing is clear, though: everyone's getting stuff done, regardless of their language choice. The whole debate isn't actually about productivity at all, even though most people still think it is. It's about whether you can stand to live in a house where the bed isn't made.