[plt-scheme] Why do folks implement *dynamically* typed languages?

On 5/31/07, Grant Rettke <grettke at acm.org> wrote:
> I'm happy with the answers.
>
> I think that at some point the fellow who created Ruby said to himself
> that "I'm going to create a programming language where you can't
> detect type errors at compile for these reasons...".
>
> What I want to know is if there are common reasons, or no reasons, or
> do people write papers about making this decision?

Possible reasons: Ruby was created in 1996, before the modern internet
(no Citeseer, no LtU, etc.)  In those days it was much more difficult
to find out about type inferencing, for example.  Ruby's creator was
inspired by Smalltalk and Perl.  So Ruby reflects its time and its
influences.  If you look at haXe, for example, you see a project with
more 'modern' influences.

N.