What are the advantages and disadvantages of static typing in programming languages?

Static typing is when the types of variables and expressions are determined at compile time.

Advantages:

• Early detection of type errors, which increases code reliability.
• Improved performance, as the compiler can optimize the code knowing the types in advance.
• Better support for tools (IDEs), such as autocomplete and refactoring.
• Clear code documentation through types.

Disadvantages:

• Less flexibility, making it harder to write generic or dynamic code.
• Requires more time to write and maintain types.
• Sometimes excessive strictness hinders rapid prototyping.

An example in Python using static typing (type hints):

from typing import List

def sum_numbers(numbers: List[int]) -> int:
    return sum(numbers)

result = sum_numbers([1, 2, 3])
print(result)  # 6

Here, types help understand that the function expects a list of integers and returns an integer.