On Type Unity

It is better to have 100 functions operate on one data structure than 10 functions on 10 data structures. --- Alan Perlis

In his essay titled "Dynamic languages are static languages", Robert Harper states:

the so-called untyped (that is "dynamically typed") languages are, in fact, unityped. Rather than have a variety of types from which to choose, there is but one!

The notion that a language with no types also has one type is absurd, so we must proceed and allow the perspective that a language with dynamic typing actually has a single static type. The argument is very rhetorical, but it does seem to be a valuable perspective^1. However, I disagree with the final conclusion:

And this is precisely what is wrong with dynamically typed languages: rather than affording the freedom to ignore types, they instead impose the bondage of restricting attention to a single type! Every single value has to be a value of that type, you have no choice!

I believe that a well-chosen type is freeing.

In Smalltalk, "everything is an object". This statement is one of the first things you might hear about the language---from people who use it and like it. What is that statement but a declaration of having one type? That one type, with its single operation (send message), is what made Smalltalk so powerful.

Smalltalk's power comes from adhering to a small, firm discipline that others also adhere to. Much like the laws of a government might be binding in a certain sense, in another they give rise to the freedom and privilege citizens enjoy in society. The prohibition of murder allows us the freedom to move about without fear of death. The rules governing market transactions ensure a minimum of fairness. Everyone benefits.

In the same way, Smalltalk's message passing presents a very small point of agreement in order to participate in the bounty of the runtime. Powerful tools, services, and metaprogramming facilities were available for the small price of conforming to a very simple type.

Far from being restrictive, a single type is freeing. The rhetoric of "bondage" does not hold, since there is an existential proof of a single type being the source of freedom and power. I wonder if a paucity of perspectives is part of the reason such an obvious flaw can arise in an intelligent essay. There are no sides in the search for better tools. We will want to combine the powerful elements from as many different perspectives as possible.

Which I will gladly add to my repertoire, thank you very
much!