I was wondering what benefits you get when you add the ":TPixmap" or ":String" type of thing to commands? BlitzMax seems to do the same whether I have them or not, as in the example code below. Any explanations geared towards a relative newbie will be much appreciated!
Strict
Graphics 800,600
' draw box
DrawRect 0,0,31,31
' draw circle
DrawOval 32,0,31,31
' grab first pixmap as box
Local my_box = GrabPixmap(0,0,32,32)
' draw it elsewhere
DrawPixmap my_box,256,256
' grab second pixmap as circle
Local my_circle:TPixmap = GrabPixmap(32,0,32,32)
' draw it elsewhere
DrawPixmap my_circle:TPixmap,512,256
' create a string and draw trimmed contents to screen
Local text$ = " Hello"
DrawText Trim(text$),0,48
DrawText Trim:String(text$),0,64
Flip
WaitKey
End
| 
