[dilipdasilva]

Inefficient languages/build systems can make the problem worse.

There are many statically typed languages that can compile in under a second. But when you change any function signature, you still have to ensure every caller is fixed. You then have to recompile, restart the application and rebuild all the data structures. Some static languages allow for hot reloading in interpretive mode, but the types of changes allowed are limited.

In dynamic languages like Common Lisp and Smalltalk you can update the program while it is running. The speed of iteration is 100x faster, because you don't have to restart the application and rebuild all the data structures to get to the point where you can test your change.