I think just about every developer hack turns out this way: static vs dynamic types; keyboard shortcuts vs mice; etc. But I think it’s also possible to over-interpret these findings: using the tools that make your work enjoyable has important second-order effects even if they aren’t the productivity silver bullet everyone claims they are.
Yeah, that was one of the pieces of research I was thinking about. Another is this review of the evidence, such as it is, for static types: https://danluu.com/empirical-pl/
So far, Fred Brook’s “No Silver Bullet” remains undefeated.
