1. A method in a processor in a data processing system for selectively performing operations on data, the method comprising: identifying an operation to be performed on data to form an identified operation; determining that metadata for use in validating data type is associated with the data on which the identified operation is to be performed; responsive to the metadata being associated with the data, identifying the data type for the data on which the identified operation is to be performed from the metadata; determining whether the identified operation can be performed on the data based on the identified data type; performing the identified operation on the data if the identified data type allows for the identified operation to be performed; and generating an error without performing the identified operation if the identified operation cannot be performed on the data based on the identified data type of the data, wherein the processor selectively performs the operations based on the identified data type of the data.