Dynamic languages and data (by yag)

I've mentioned before that one of the reasons I enjoy my job so much is that I get to work with folks like Anders, Paul, Erik and Calvin on future technology. Basically, my goal is to make working with data in real applications (not just demos) something that is straight forward and scalable. One of the biggest post-Whidbey things we're all working on is around integrating data semantics into the languages of the CLR. Those of you really interested in this long lead stuff can expect to hear more about this at PDC (and yes, I'll be there).

Paul has posted an entry on his blog about VB as a dynamic language. As someone who has used both VFP and .NET, I have to admit that while strong typing is awesome, when you work with data, sometimes you just want to get a little more, well, dynamic. And yes, I love the phrase "Static typing where possible, dynamic typing where needed" also. I'd just add that we also want to allow for dynamic typing with a strongly typed experience. <g>

Check out Paul's entry - and the links that go with it. You'll be glad you did.