The other day I went to a presentation on Dynamic languages. The case studies were python, ruby and groovy.
Well, it was nothing short of Wow. The potential for dynamic languages is _huge_ . I was blown away by what you can do when you take away the compile step. An application that can _change_ itself, at will. An application that can write itself.
An already built application that you don't like bits of, you can change.
Not having a clue whether your program runs, until you run it. i.e. all the pre-run step can really do is check your basic syntax is correct! There is of course, no compile time checking.
It was also interesting to realise how much we actually depend on the compiler when using static languages.
I think it would be like being a child again were I to start using dynamic languages as there is just so much you can do. You can of course shoot yourself in the foot much more effectively as well. It's a context where unit tests and test driven development is just a non-negotiable.
