This has been one of my concerns all along.
The claim is that “enough testing” will eliminate the need for the compiler to do static checking at compile time.
http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=217080
Frank Sommers seems to be saying otherwise… in the long run.
So, I’m feeling justified in my decision to stick with Java, where I gain maximal benefit from IDEs and compilers.