Several studies have concluded that static type systems offer an advantage over
dynamic type systems for programming tasks involving the discovery of a new
API. However, these studies did not take into account modern IDE features; the
advanced navigation and code completion techniques available in modern IDEs
could drastically alter their conclusions. This study describes an experiment
that compares the usage of an unknown API using Java and Groovy using the IDE
Eclipse. It turns out that the previous finding that static type systems
improve the usability of an unknown API still holds, even in the presence of a
modern IDE.