This is a class of high-level programming languages that share a common trait – they don’t have or use data types. Data types are particular types of data such as string that can contain text, or a Boolean that can only contain true/false values. These languages still use data of course, but don’t recognise data types.
Technipages Explains Typeless
The vast majority of programming languages does distinguish between data types. That means that any sort of data entered needs to be defined as a data type. There are lots and they can differ slightly from language to language, but common ones include strings, floats, integers and Booleans. If data is declared as the wrong data type (for example, letters in a number-only variable) this can cause issues and prevent a program from running or at least running correctly.
While the content of a variable can change, it’s data type usually can not – data has to be moved or copied to a new variable. In typeless languages, this is not the case. Variables and data still exist and they can function in the same way they do in other languages, but effectively only one data type exists – all data is stored in the same type, and therefore, any variable can hold any kind of data. This can prevent certain issues from happening – namely, errors caused by faulty declarations – but it can also be an inconvenience as it’s impossible to test mid-program whether a certain variable is a certain type.
Typeless languages include TCL, Rexx and BLISS for example. Common languages like Java, C++ and Python are all typed.
In such a language, there is essentially only one data type, so that a variable can store any type of data (and the type of data stored in a variable can change as the program executes). A programming language (such as JavaScript) is ideal for scripting, in which variables may stand for computer system resources or components in addition to the data types normally found in strongly or weakly typed programming languages. A language allows for rapid program development and maximum flexibility, but no type checking is performed; for this reason, errors may not be detected until the code is executed. See data type, JavaScript, scripting language, strong typing, type, type checking, weak typing.
Common Uses of Typeless
- Typeless languages don’t use traditional data types to categorise data.
- Variables in typeless languages can store any sort of data.
- Typeless languages don’t prioritise type safety.
Common Misuses of Typeless
- Typeless languages don’t require a keyboard to type.
