Duck Typing vs Type Annotations

Developers should learn duck typing when working in dynamically-typed languages to write more generic and reusable code that focuses on what objects can do rather than what they are meets developers should learn and use type annotations to catch bugs early, improve code readability, and facilitate better tooling support, such as autocompletion and refactoring. Here's our take.

Duck Typing

Nice Pick

Developers should learn duck typing when working in dynamically-typed languages to write more generic and reusable code that focuses on what objects can do rather than what they are

Pros

• It's particularly useful for creating flexible APIs, implementing design patterns like strategy or adapter, and handling diverse data structures in a uniform way, such as iterating over collections regardless of their specific type
• Related to: dynamic-typing, polymorphism

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Type Annotations

Developers should learn and use type annotations to catch bugs early, improve code readability, and facilitate better tooling support, such as autocompletion and refactoring

Pros

• They are particularly valuable in large codebases, collaborative projects, and when integrating with libraries, as they reduce runtime errors and make code intentions explicit
• Related to: static-typing, type-checking

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

Use Duck Typing if: You want it's particularly useful for creating flexible apis, implementing design patterns like strategy or adapter, and handling diverse data structures in a uniform way, such as iterating over collections regardless of their specific type and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.

Use Type Annotations if: You prioritize they are particularly valuable in large codebases, collaborative projects, and when integrating with libraries, as they reduce runtime errors and make code intentions explicit over what Duck Typing offers.

The Bottom Line

Duck Typing wins

Developers should learn duck typing when working in dynamically-typed languages to write more generic and reusable code that focuses on what objects can do rather than what they are