
Mathematics in Python - rayvega
http://www.math.okstate.edu/~ullrich/PyPlug/
======
ggchappell
This is a clean, well written demonstration of how convenient it is to create
new types with overloaded math operators in Python. Devotees of C++, in
particular, really need to see how nice it can be when operators and
inheritance Just Work.

But I got a twinge of irritation near the beginning of the article. Call it a
pet peeve if you want, but it's ridiculous to say that Python is "untyped". On
the contrary, Python's typing can be quite unforgiving, never letting you
weasel out of a type error with arbitrary conversions (a la C or C++).

It _is_ true that implicit, dynamic, duck-by-default typing (like Python)
looks at first glance quite similar to no typing at all (like ANSI Forth).
This is particularly true if one is used to languages like C or (as he
mentions) Pascal.

But this is only true at first glance. What is really going on here is that,
since Pascal came out, the language-design community has figured out how to
put together type systems that mostly stay out of the programmer's way, while
still being strong enough to provide useful safety guarantees. (See also
Haskell, etc.)

And this, I think, is a terribly nifty thing that should not be glossed over.

~~~
noblethrasher
I had professor Ullrich for several classes and he tends to be _very_ precise.
Indeed, he mentioned that values in Python have types while the variables do
not.

