Hold it right there. I've never seen anyone argue that static type systems prevent bugs.

I mean they do prevent silly bugs that occur from mistyping variable/property names but I've never seen anyone claim that they eliminate other classes of bugs.

The biggest benefit of static type checking is you know what all the variables are.

    def checkout_cart(customer, payment_methods, cart, session):
        # body

Of course, this kind of code is confusing in Java as well, but for a different reason: Java conventions encourage a kind of obtuse programming style where everything is hidden behind layers of abstractions of factories and managers, so that even when everything is typed, you're not sure what anything is doing because all the data that matters is private and so are all the methods that actually do anything useful. All you're left with is an abstract interface that can sometimes be just as bad as an untyped variable. But this is mostly a cultural problem. (I've digressed).

> Static typing make auto complete and refactoring tools easier, for sure, but it also slows down ease of experimentation

Java slows down ease of experimentation because it requires tons of boilerplate code for even the simplest tasks.

It's not the static type checking.

If anything, static type checking helps experimentation because you can change your mind quickly and the compiler will help you catch all the stupid mistakes that can occur from mismatching types or mistyping variable names. This removes a huge cognitive tax and makes programming more enjoyable. Although I will concede this is subjective.