dynamic typing
compound.compound. a way of writing computer code where you do not have to name the type of data a variable holds. The computer figures out if something is a number or text while the program is running.
compound. a feature of programming languages where variable types are determined at runtime rather than during compilation. This allows a single variable to hold different data types at different points in the program's execution.
Python uses dynamic typing to make writing code faster.
Because the language uses dynamic typing, the developer could assign a string to a variable that previously held an integer without causing a crash.
While dynamic typing offers significant flexibility and rapid prototyping capabilities, it can introduce subtle runtime errors that a static type system would have caught during the compilation phase.
A compound formed from the adjective dynamic, derived from the Greek dunamikos meaning powerful or active, and the verbal noun typing, in the sense of categorising data. The term reflects the shift of type-checking processes from the static phase of compilation to the active phase of program execution.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Commonly contrasted with 'static typing' in computer science contexts.
Last updated July 22, 2026